India's Gharda filed a petition with a U.S. court asking the EPA to stop banning Chlorpyrifos

Recently, India's Gharda company, together with a number of agricultural groups, filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, asking the EPA to stop the cancellation of the product's registration before the ban on Chlorpyrifos is established.

Chlorpyrifos has been widely used for both food and non-food purposes since 1965. In 2007, anti-pesticide groups petitioned the EPA to ban the use of Chlorpyrifos, claiming that even small amounts left in food can damage the brains of babies and fetuses.

The EPA, under pressure from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on the West Coast, ultimately banned Chlorpyrifos in 2022 under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Gharda, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Wheat Growers Association and 17 other agricultural groups filed a lawsuit in the Midwest 8th Circuit Court to overturn the ban. The court heard oral arguments in December but has yet to issue a ruling.

Although the Circuit court has yet to rule, the EPA appears ready to remove the labels of three chlorpyrifos products registered by Gharda Chemicals International for use on food crops. It said last month that it hoped to revoke Gharda's label as soon as possible, noting that removing the label was the next step to enacting the ban. According to Gharda and producer groups, if the EPA removes the labels and the court subsequently overturns the ban, re-registration would cost more than $1 million and take three years, which would hurt Gharda and farmers.

Gharda and producer groups are asking for the restoration of EPA findings during the Trump administration that Chlorpyrifos can be safely used on 11 crops in specific geographic areas, including apples in Washington state, sugar beets in Idaho and strawberries in Oregon. According to Gharda President Ram Seethapathi's statement in court, Gharda has a large inventory of products in India ready for sale in the United States, and the ban will have a disastrous impact on the company. At present, commercial farmers have been banned from using Chlorpyrifos for two growing seasons, but it maintains that Chlorpyrifos remains an important pesticide against various pests.