Blog - Page 9 of 18 - Agricultural Legal Counsel

Agriculture

EPA’s New Pesticide Incident Database, Jalapenogate & More

EPA Launches Pesticide Incident Database The Environmental Protection Agency recently launched an online database of pesticide incidents reported to the agency over the last 10 years. The Agency stated that the publication of the database was “a major step to increase transparency” and intended to provide the public and community organizations with access to data regarding pesticide exposures. The database allows the public to search two data sets: (i) individual incidents submitted to the Agency with a description of the incident, and (ii) incidents submitted in aggregate. EPA cautioned that “the data sets contain raw data that have never been reviewed for their validity or modified to facilitate public review” and therefore

joelcape August 4, 2023

China to Shore Up Seed Supplies, Contracting With Emojis & More

Agriculture

China Seed Trade, Contracting With Emojis & More

China Plans to Secure Domestic Seed Supplies China’s quest for food security is making its seed industry a top policy priority, and President Xi Jinping has ordered the country’s top anticorruption enforcers to focus on rooting out illicit trade in low-quality and substandard seeds. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Chinese government has “taken to comparing seeds to advanced semiconductor chips, a technology that China has pledged to master in its quest for a national renaissance.” But corruption in the seed trade has been widespread and plagued with fake varieties and poor quality seed passed off as top-quality genetics. A Chinese newspaper cited a case in which

joelcape July 28, 2023

Agriculture

A Pesticide Immunity Bill, Economic Barriers to Rural Business & More

Bill to Give Complete Immunity for Pesticides Federal legislation providing pesticide producers with complete immunity for pesticides was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) last month. The Bill (H.R. 4288) proposes to amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act’s (FIFRA) preemption provision (7 U.S.C. 136v(b)) to effectively eliminate virtually all State authority over pesticides. More importantly, the Bill will result in immunity to pesticide producers even if the producer fails to comply with legal packaging and labeling requirements. The effect of the Bill if it is passed will be virtual bulletproof immunity to pesticide producers for their products. The clear intent of this Bill is

joelcape July 14, 2023

Legal News

Forum Shopping Gets a Boost, and Other Legal News

Supreme Court Confirms Power of State Courts Over Corporate Defendants This week the Supreme Court ruled that companies can be hailed into court in states where the companies have registered to do business. The ruling is significant because it will give plaintiffs a wide choice of venues for filing suits against corporate defendants. Since the 19th century, nearly every state has adopted laws that require out-of-state companies seeking to do business within the state to register and appoint an agent for service of process. Thus, companies routinely register in many states. The case before the Supreme Court involved a suit by a former employee that had worked for Norfolk Southern

joelcape June 30, 2023

Lawsuits

New Lawsuit to De-List Enlist, Cell-Cultured Chicken Approved for Dinner

New Lawsuit Challenges Registrations for Enlist One and Enlist Duo Environmental groups continued their fight against EPA’s registration of Enlist and Enlist Duo herbicides by filing a new lawsuit seeking to vacate those registrations. The Groups’ 100-page complaint alleges that EPA’s decisions violate the Federal Insectide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to account for risks and adverse effects, including: understating the risks of spray drift, damage to non-tolerant crops, increases in herbicide resistance, and impacts to wildlife areas overstating the benefits of Enlist in combating herbicide-resistance weeds ignoring the human health risks of Enlist Duo, including the connection of its glyphosate component

joelcape June 27, 2023

Legal News

EPA’s Regulatory Bias on Biotechnology, and Other Legal News

EPA’s New Final Rule for Traited Crops Looks Much Like the Old Rule The EPA recently released its final rule for new regulations on Plant-Incorporated Protectants (PIPs) which are commonly known as pesticidal traits in plants. The new rule adds a narrow exemption for a small subset of PIPs created through new biotechnology techniques, such as gene editing. The new exemptions will apply to two types of genetically engineered PIPs: Those created through genetic engineering from a sexually compatible plant, for example, the introduction of a gene from a wild maize relative into a modern corn variety; and Those where the genetic modification results in a loss of function of

joelcape June 16, 2023