This article is taken from NGFA's Feb. 24 newsletter.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a joint virtual public meeting on March 22 to provide information and receive public comment on the agencies’ current approaches to the oversight of various products regulated as either pesticides or new animal drugs.

Currently, EPA and FDA determine regulatory oversight of pesticides and new animal drugs based on the rationale described in a Memorandum of Understanding between the agencies signed in 1971 and revised in 1973.

However, EPA and FDA state pesticide and animal drug technologies—and both agencies’ understanding of these technologies—have evolved, and the current approach has resulted in misalignment between product characteristics and the agency better equipped to regulate the product.

The agencies have authored a white paper, which describes the current challenges and highlights the potential benefits of a modernized approach for oversight of these products.

Registration for the meeting is available on FDA’s website. During the meeting, interested parties will have the opportunity to present their perspectives, and a docket—EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0103—has been made available for the submission of written comments until April 24.