2010 spray drift label review nominations

As described in the APVMA Operating Principles in Relation to Spray Drift Risk (section 9.2), the APVMA committed to assessing and updating the labels of all currently registered products subject to spray drift regulation to include comprehensive instructions for managing spray drift risk. An overview of how the new instructions will be incorporated into labels can be found in the APVMA’s Operational Notice dated 1 March 2010.

Assessing and updating currently registered products that are subject to spray drift regulation is a very large task, and the APVMA will first deal with pesticides judged likely to pose the greatest risks of adverse effects from spray drift. The APVMA with the consultation of its advisory agencies has begun this process with the pesticides listed in the table below. These initial pesticides have been selected based on their hazard characteristics, their amounts of use and their involvement in adverse incidents.

The APVMA will continue to work with its advisory agencies, including the Department of Health and Ageing and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC) on a framework to support the risk assessment and management of chemicals for risk of spray drift. The priority list of chemicals for spray drift label review is therefore an indicative list which is likely to change with time as the APVMA formulates its spray drift assessment framework.

The APVMA may choose at any time to adjust the priority ranking of the existing list depending upon new information that may become available.

Initial Concerns

The areas of concern that have resulted in the chemicals being placed on the priority list are shown in the fifth column of the following table. Additional concerns may be identified after the particular spray drift review has begun. The meaning of the indicators used in the ‘Initial concerns’ column are:

HH - indicates human health concerns (bystander health and/or occupational health and safety)
E - indicates environmental concerns including damage to crops
R - indicates residues and trade concerns