A call for clarity: Embracing the debate on pesticide regulation to protect pollinators

We thank Odemer and colleagues (https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biad112) for a thoughtful and informative response to our recent Forum article on reforms to current pesticide regulatory practices to better support pollinator health (Fisher et al. 2023). One important clarification is that our Forum article was not focused on the European Union but was, rather, a general discussion of global pesticide regulatory practices, with a predominate focus on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States. Although we included some discussion of the regulatory standards of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in response to reviewer comments, we deliberately refrained from attempting an international comparison of the pesticide regulations, given the substantial variations observed from country to country.

Currently, the pesticide registration process in the United States is informed by the evaluation and approval of active ingredients and not entire formulations (EPA 2023a). We suggest that moving toward evaluation of plant protection products as formulations as performed by the European Union is a needed improvement for the US system.