. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1531 
24 April 2007 
 (07-1676) 
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):   Leafy vegetables  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  Any 
US trade partners 
5. Title, language and number of pages of  the notified document:  NOTICE.  Boscalid; 
Pesticide Tolerances; Availability of Objec tions and Request for Comments (available in 
English, 2 pages) 
6. Description of content:  This document announces the availa bility of objections filed with 
respect to the establishment of two boscalid to lerances.  On 20 February 2007, the Natural 
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed objections  to a final rule establishing tolerances 
for the pesticide boscalid on two crop subgroups in the leafy vegetables crop group. 
(20 December 2006 (71 FR 76185; FRL-8107-8).  NRDC's objections assert that it was 
unlawful for EPA to remove the additional 10X safety factor for the protection of infants 
and children in assessing the risk of boscalid b ecause the evidence shows that juveniles are 
more sensitive to boscalid than adults.  NRDC cl aims that if the 10X children's safety factor 
is retained, the boscalid tolerances do not meet the safety standard for establishing 
tolerances under FFDCA section 408.  Additiona lly, NRDC argues that EPA's action was 
arbitrary and capricious for failing to provide an adequate explanation for the decision on 
the children's safety factor.  Because the issues raised by NRDC concern matters of great 
interest not just to NRDC but to growers, food distributors and processors, and pesticide manufacturers as well as members of the public , EPA believes its decision-making will be 
enhanced by obtaining the views of all affected parties.  For that reason, EPA is publishing 
this notice of availability of NRDC's objec tions and requesting comment on the objections. 
The objections are available in the docket for the tolerance rule in question, EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0145. 
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   G/SPS/N/USA/1531 
Page 2  
 
  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: 
28 March 2007 (Volume 72, Number 59) Notices Page 14551-14552;  
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2007/March/Day-28/p5576.htm. 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  N/A 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  This is a notice of availability which may or may not 
result in further regulatory action. 
12. Final date for comments:  Comments must be received on or before 29 May 2007, and 
may be identified by docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0145. 
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:  Registration Division, (7505P), 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:  United 
States SPS National Notification Authority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, International Regulations and Standards Di vision (IRSD), Stop 1027, Washington D.C. 
20250;  Tel:  202-720-1301;  Fax:  2 02-690-0677;  E-mail:  fstsd@fas.usda.gov