Pest Management Professional, March 2018
Illegal Pesticides CraCkdown Attorneys weigh in on the Amazon EPA FIFRA settlement By PMP Staff A ttorneys serving the professional pest management industry view the recent Amazon EPA Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act FIFRA settlement as a new precedent to help curb online sales of illegal pesticides Daniel Gerber a partner with Orlando Fla based Rumberger Kirk Caldwell says a FIFRA settlement like the one Amazon agreed to pay is rare This 12 million settlement reinforces the principle that professional and wellestablished sources of pest control products and services are vital to DanieL Gerber protect the public from those who do not operate with the same attention to laws and rules Gerber says Jeffrey Lipman an attorney with Lipman Law Firm in West Des Moines Iowa says part of the problem is consistency The EPA regions often interpret what constitutes a pesticide differently and the fine structures differ as well Lipman claims There needs to be more uniformity among the regions Greg Crosslin a Jeffrey LiPMan Destin Fla based attorney says many online pesticide sellers around the world circumvent U S regulatory requirements designed to protect public health and property But this is nothing new he states Illegal pesticides were shipped into the United States long before the days of online sales Crosslin says Many times the products mimicked legal registered pesticides Online sales opportunities make it much easier to accomplish and much harder to stop this type of fraudulent activity Easy access to unregulated pesticide products and the easy money to be made selling them make this problem difficult to solve There are many reputable companies that sell their pesticides online including several proven industry manufacturers and distributors They will need to be part of the solution to this problem Crosslin says The proper checks and balances must be put in place to ensure all pesticides are properly registered and all related sales are legal and in full compliance with FIFRA he concludes The crux of the problem is Im not sure the states currently are able to handle this much less afford it BACK TO THE FUTURE In 2002 the U S EPA held a meeting to discuss Internet Pesticide Sales The Regulatory Challenges of E Commerce Sixteen years later many of the problems and potential solutions regarding online pesticide sales remain the same Learn more online at Archive epa gov pesticides ppdc ppdc 2002 pestsales htm GreG CrossLin 36 March 2018 Pest Management Professional mypmp net Photo istock com smartstock
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