. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1303 
8 May 2006 
 (06-2206) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Antimicrobial pesticide used in agricultural, food handling, commercial, 
institutional/industrial, residential a nd public access, and medical settings.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  Any 
US trade partners.  
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Notice.  Didecyl 
Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride Risk Assessme nts and Preliminary Risk Reduction Options; 
Notice of Availability (Available in English, 3 pages).  
6. Description of content:  This notice announces the availab ility of EPA's risk assessments, 
preliminary risk reduction options, and rela ted documents for the Group 1 Quat Cluster 
pesticide didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, and opens a public comment period on 
these documents.  
 This chemical is an antimicrobial pesticide u sed in agricultural, food handling, commercial, 
institutional/industrial, residential a nd public access, and medical settings. 
 Products containing this chemical are used  as disinfectants, food and non-food contact 
sanitizers, wood preservatives, bacteriocide/b acteriostats, microbiocide/microbiostats, 
fungicide/fungistats, algaecides and virucides.  These products are used in agricultural, food 
handling, commercial, institutional/industrial , residential and public access, and medical 
settings.  Examples of registered uses in these settings include application to indoor and outdoor hard surfaces (e.g., walls, floors, tabl es, toilets, and other similar surfaces), eating 
utensils, laundry, carpets, agricultural tools and vehicles, egg shells, shoes, milking 
equipment and udders, humidifiers, medical inst ruments, human remains, ultrasonic tanks, 
reverse osmosis units, and water storage tanks.  These products are also used in residential 
and commercial swimming pools, aquatic areas  such as decorative ponds and decorative 
fountains, and industrial process and water sy stems such as re-circulating cooling water 
systems, drilling muds and packer fluids, oil well injections and wastewater systems. 
Additionally, these products are used for wood preservation through non-pressure and 
pressure-treatment methods.  G/SPS/N/USA/1303 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [ X ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [ X ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Federal Register: 
26 April 2006 (Volume 71, Number 80) Pages 24679-24681. http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2006/April/Day-26/p6301.htm  
Available in English.  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Not specified. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  A notice invites the public to submit additional 
scientific information and comments to the Agency.  
12. Final date for comments:  Members are encouraged to submit their comments by 
26 June 2006.  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
Antimicrobials Division (7510C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001  
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notifi cation authority, [   ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Ms Deborah Thompson, Acting, United Stat es SPS National Notification Authority, USDA 
Foreign Agricultural Service, Food Safety & Technical Services Division, Stop 1027, 
Washington D.C. 20250.  Tel:  202-720-4051;  Fax:  202-690-0677;  E-mail: 
fstsd@fas.usda.gov