October 31, 2020
By Rachel Frazin
By Rachel Frazin
A dwindling number of Environmental Protection Agency lab inspectors (click here) for studies supporting pesticide re-approval is prompting industry calls for more government oversight.
The EPA has just five inspectors tasked with evaluating the laboratory practices of hundreds of labs that conduct studies surrounding pesticide regulations, marking a steady decline over the past 25 years for the officials in charge of inspecting compliance with the agency's Good Laboratory Practice Standards....
The industry REQUIRES inspections, reviews, and certifications because their competition has those reassurances for customers. Just because Trumps want to remove the federal government from every aspect of Americans' lives don't mean it goes away.
...Proponents argue the lend legitimacy to industry lab results in the eyes of worldwide regulators. A lack of inspections, in turn, is seen as hurting the integrity of U.S. industry in a global marketplace.
Under the Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) program, the EPA inspects the quality and integrity of data submitted in support of approving a pesticide. But some industry groups say the agency should augment its program....
..."The GLP inspection and audit program is being starved of resources and personnel," Ray McAllister wrote.
"There are some 1400 laboratories, facilities, and field sites in the US participating in GLP research on pesticides," he added in the email. "With current staffing of the audit and inspection program, keeping up with that number of facilities seems like an impossible task."...
...The EPA said it has five inspectors and two in training. From 2016 through 2019, the agency had four inspectors.
CropLife's McAllister told The Hill that staffing has been in "a gradual decline over the past 26 years." His email to the EPA noted that there were 19 inspectors and six support staffers in 1994.
He argued in the 2018 email that in other countries, the ratio of labs to inspectors is more "balanced."...
The quality of American production is important. The regulations are important. The industry is not interested in eliminating regulation or inspection, they actually want more of it to remain competitive.
Regulation is not a bad word. It keeps products in the USA in high demand.
