Pesticide reform bill kills Delaney clause

Abstract

Leaders of the House Commerce Committee last week reached a bipartisan compromise on legislation that could significantly change the way pesticide residues in food are regulated. The agreement's most controversial proviso calls for repeal of the Delaney clause as it applies to pesticides. The agreement will be incorporated into H.R. 1627. That bill reforms both the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, which contains the Delaney clause. The clause, which was passed in 1958, made it illegal to add any chemical to a processed food that has been determined to cause cancer in humans or animals. Under FIFRA, the Environmental Protection Agency sets tolerances for pesticide residues, even suspected carcinogens, for raw foods. The compromise replaces the Delaney clause with a new negligiblerisk standard—reasonable certainty of no harm—to use in setting pesticide residue tolerances. The new standard would apply to pesticide residues in both raw and ...