Dow AgroSciences Responds To NPDF's Petition For Judicial Review Of Sulfoxaflor

In May of this year, US EPA registered Dow AgroSciences’ insecticide sulfoxaflor for U.S. agricultural uses. Two months later, the National Pollinator Defense Fund petitioned the Agency to reconsider that decision. Following are Dow AgroSciences' perspectives:

What Is Sulfoxaflor?

• Sulfoxaflor is a newly registered insecticidal active ingredient marketed in the U.S. as Transform and Closer.
• Sulfoxaflor is the first and only product in a new class of chemistry (the sulfoximines), invented by Dow AgroSciences. 
• Sulfoxaflor offers highly effective control of important sap-feeding insect pests for use on major crops, including cotton, soybean, citrus, pome/stone fruit, nuts, grapes, potatoes, vegetables and strawberries.
• Sulfoxaflor’s unique attributes include a novel mode of action, making it an important new tool for grower insect resistance management programs.
• Additionally, sulfoxaflor’s unique mode of action targets harmful pests while reducing impacts on beneficial insects, allowing it to fit conveniently into current grower crop protection strategies.
• Growers have been asking for new pest control technology with alternate modes of action. Sulfoxaflor meets that need and has been designed to offer growers a broader and more effective selection of crop protection options for many years to come.

Dow AgroSciences' Response To The National Pollinator Defense Fund Petition

• In light of current pollinator protection controversies related to certain agricultural insecticides, it is not surprising that a new insecticide registration would be challenged at this time.
• Before approving sulfoxaflor, however, EPA conducted a thorough evaluation in which pollinator concerns were fully addressed.
• From the standpoint of pollinator protection, EPA’s evaluation of sulfoxaflor is, in fact, more sophisticated and comprehensive than any other comparable registration decision reached by the Agency to date. 
• Dow AgroSciences is also concerned for pollinator protection. But given the additional rigor used by EPA in addressing pollinator protection issues in its evaluation of sulfoxaflor, we are also confident in the strength of the Agency’s regulatory assessment of our product and in its decision, based on extensive review, to authorize its use.