As had been anticipated, the insecticide Aphox has been registered, but only for use on peas and beans. All cereal and other crop uses have been discontinued and the use-up date has been set for 16 September next.

The important active, once portrayed as a very specific and safe aphicide, fell victim to increasingly stringent registration requirement. The active was the only option for aphid control late in the season on spring barley and it was also widely used on vegetable crops.

Bar too high

Basically the bar was set too high by the information required for reregistration. The maximum residue level (MRL) was also decreased in a separate move and this had particular implications for its use on food crops.

The MRL change is one of the main reasons why it has been withdrawn from use so quickly. The usual timetable associated with the withdrawal of a pesticide allows six months to sell out a product, followed by a further 12 months to have the product used up at farm level. But in this case use on many crops must cease by 16 September 2016.