BASF voluntarily cancels registration for its Tirexor herbicide, will reapply

Facing a lawsuit and newly announced U.S. EPA registration policy, BASF has agreed to voluntarily cancel its registrations for the herbicide trifludimoxazin (brand name: Tirexor).

But it also plans to reapply under EPA's new guidelines. The agency said last month it will now incorporate endangered species impacts into registration reviews for new active ingredients.

Cancellation of the registrations will not "adversely affect the availability of the pesticide for use" on minor crops because BASF has never made, distributed or sold the products in the U.S., BASF Vice President, U.S. Crop Scott Kay said in a declaration filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, the Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, EPA and BASF asked the court to hold the environmental groups' challenge to the registration approval in abeyance. The official cancellation notice is in today's Federal Register.

The chemical "should never have been approved to begin with, but we are gratified BASF has recognized our case's merit, capitulated, and will remove its product from the market without further litigation," said George Kimbrell, CFS legal director and counsel in the case.