Costa Rica generic sector pushes for 400 approvals

The generic pesticide sector in Costa Rica has joined calls from farmers for the government to approve 400 “seized” pesticide products, the Costa Rican daily, Diario Extra reports. There have been delays to registrations in the country for the past three years ( Agrow No 497, p 15). The country’s major agrochemical association, the CIA, says that the calls should be resisted. A government and farmer group appointed commission that was set up in April should determine which pesticides are most urgently required and which should be approved, CIA president Carlos Hidalgo reportedly says. Decree 33495 was passed early last year to bring the approval system into line with the UN FAO’s equivalence system ( Agrow No 513, p 14). However, industry representatives contested it in the Constitutional Court for “not [guaranteeing] … environmental and health protection” ( Agrow No 523, p 14).