Europe, will soon run out of mancozeb fungicide. This fungicide is mainly used to combat late blight and other leaf diseases caused by endoparasite fungi.
The European Union Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed voted not to renew the authorization for mancozeb, according to reports from ENDS Europe and FG Insight (both under paywall).
The federal department responsible for the country’s health policy, Health Canada, has proposed to cancel the use of mancozeb. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Canada is still pending re-evaluation of mancozeb’s future use.
Mancozeb is pending review in the United States, as the 15-year EPA registration from 2005 will expire. The draft Risk Assessment was supposed to be published in the summer of 2020, but has not yet been released, National Potato Council (NPC) Director of Operations Mike Wenkel told Spudman. Wenkel added that the NPC anticipates that the public comment period will open sometime during the first quarter of 2021.
Mancozeb is the latest potato crop protection tool to be banned by the European Union. Currently, the removal of the CIPC potato sprout inhibitor (chlorpropham) is underway.
Image source: “Banderas Europeas en el Berlaymont (Bruselas)” by Amio Cajander. is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.
