Chemical name: 2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethylbenzofuran-7-yl methylcarbamate

Final regulatory action has been taken for the category: Pesticide

Final regulatory action: The chemical is Banned

Use or uses prohibited by the final regulatory action: Prohibited all formulations with Carbofuran active ingredient and all uses in Costa Rica.

The final regulatory action was based on a risk or hazard evaluation: No

Summary of the final regulatory action: In June 2011, a Deputy from the Legislative Assembly pointed out to the Ministers of Labor, Health, Environment and Agriculture and Livestock that Carbofuran was banned in the United States as of January 1, 2010 due to its high toxicity to animals and plants and that the same prohibition was in force in Canada and Europe, therefore, he requested to initiate as soon as possible the relevant procedures to repeal the decree that existed at that time and the final prohibition of Carbofuran in the national territory. In July 2011, the State Phytosanitary Service - Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock responded to the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock that on the date of issuance of the response, the SFE did not have any formal complaint that should be investigated for misuse in the field of Carbofuran-based products and that there was also no official communication by any importing country that problems were notified with residues of said active ingredient in export pineapples; in this same note it was indicated that it had been sent through the Technical Secretariat of Coordination for the Management of Chemical Substances. In April 2012, the Technical Secretariat for Coordination for the Management of Chemical Substances issued the technical report concluding that the request made by the Deputy of the Legislative Assembly was not appropriate, since it had been shown that there was sufficient technical and scientific evidence, which allowed to continue Carbofuran in pineapple under the stated use recommendations, leaving the decision of further restrictions or prohibition to the relevant Ministries, been these who should initiate the process of reviewing the current legislation on Carbofuran as soon as possible. In May 2012, the SFE requested through a note to the National Banana Corporation (CORBANA) its official position regarding the use of Carbofuran in bananas. In June 2012 CORBANA responded stating that they supported to maintain the use of Carbofuran in bananas, justifying that said molecule is necessary to maintain a rotation program of nematicides for the control of nematodes in crops and that only two nematicides were available, therefore they did not have substitute products and this ban would affect the competitiveness of the sector. During that same month, the SFE requested the Ministry of Health technical criteria in order to respond to CORBANA. At the end of June 2012, the Ministry of Health responded by indicating its criteria such as prohibiting all liquid formulations and use in all crops, except for pineapple and bananas (within the rotation system of nematicides as pointed out CORBANA) only use in direct applications to the soil and mechanically, allowing the use of formulations of Carbofuran granulated with a maximum of 100 g of carbofuran/kg of formulated commercial product only (these formulations must be totally free of dust), among others. At the beginning of July 2012, a meeting of the Interministerial Commission was held with the participation of officials from the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), Ministry of Health (MS) and State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) - Ministry of Agriculture (MAG), where the MINAE pointed out that their criterion was to ban Carbofuran, the SFE indicated that at the agronomic level there were no reasons to ban Carbofuran since it was efficient. The representatives of the SFE and MS stated that considering the arguments presented by MINAE, they would agree that Carbofuran should be prohibited in all the proposed scope, granting a period of two years for the measure to become effective, thus, within this period the pineapple and banana sectors would find alternatives to replace this product, in addition, for the other crops Carbofuran would be immediately banned, applying further restrictions on trade and use. At the end of July, another inter-ministerial meeting was held where the Carbofuran ban decree was reviewed and comments and modifications were made to the Decree proposal. In August 2012, several follow-up meetings of the Interministerial Commission were held, in the first, the SFE made the comment that carbofuran is authorized for use in coffee, for that reason this same day the SFE sent a note to the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) requesting their technical position regarding the importance of Carbofuran in coffee cultivation, as well as the consequences of a possible ban on this pesticide. Subsequent meetings followed-up the review of the prohibition decree proposal. During this month the Occupational Health Council issued a note making comments to the decree proposal. On 13 August 2012, the ICAFE responded to the note sent by the SFE stating that this product has low frequency of use, practically for the stage of establishment of plantations, and there were also alternative products registered for crops, both comments were considered during the inter-ministerial meetings held at the end of August. In September 2012, an inter-ministerial meeting was again held where the decree proposal was reviewed. During this month, MINAE presented the technical report to SFE, concluding that due to the characteristics of mobility, persistence and ecotoxicity, Carbofuran is a substance that represents a high risk for the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and, because it has been authorized in several crops distributed in different areas of Costa Rica, would cause a greater number of exposed ecosystems and increased in the case of crops such as pineapple, banana, sugar cane and rice (extensive crops), therefore, in this scenario, from the point of view of environmental protection, it is unacceptable, thus it was recommended accepting the request of the deputy to prohibit the import, manufacture, formulation, repackaging, storage, sale, mixing, marketing and use of raw material or formulations, of products containing the agricultural pesticide Carbofuran. The technical report carried out by the Ministry of Health concluded that after the analysis of technical and scientific information on the risk that Carbofuran represents for the human health and the environment, efforts should be made together with MINAE and MAG to dictate the legal provision that allows a greater restriction of this pesticide use. During the month of October 2012, the SFE-MAG issued the technical agronomic report stating that the decree document should establish the final prohibition of Carbofuran within a period of 6 months from the date of publication of the decree, for crops other than bananas and pineapples, and for these two crops there would be a non-renewable period of 24 months, and after this period the SFE should cancel all registrations. The 24-month concession for banana and pineapple was due to the need of the productive sectors to find other alternatives to the phytosanitary problems that are currently being solved with Carbofuran. In this same month, the Occupational Health Council delivered the technical report on occupational health, for the prohibition of the active ingredient Carbofuran, stating their agreement to ban Carbofuran; but from an agronomic point of view it is justified the need to continue using Carbofuran in crops such as pineapple and banana for another 24 months, thus it was recommended that the handling and use of this pesticide would be carried out under the strictest measures for life, health and safety of workers protection. From the date indicated above at the time of publication in the Official Gazette La Gaceta, comments were made by all the Ministries and entities involved on the original Decree draft, with the respective collection of signatures of the Ministries involved.

The reasons for the final regulatory action were relevant to:

Date of entry into force of the final regulatory action: 04/12/2014