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Maryland Department of Agriculture

Pesticide, Fertilizer & Soil Amendment Product Registration

Overview

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to the State Chemist Section’s (SCS) stakeholders on applying for pesticide registration, and amendments.  Guidance includes information on: 

  • Determining if a product requires registration 
  • Types of product registrations 
  • Submitting an application for registration of a new product or amendment of a currently registered product
  • The internal registration process at the SCS 
  • Maintaining a product registration 
  • Other related information such as enforcement, and product cancellation/termination 

Authority to regulate 

There are both federal and state laws that govern the import, manufacture, production, mixing, distribution, consignment, and use of pesticide products. 

The federal authority to regulate pesticides in found in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 (40 CFR 150 - 189).  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is responsible for regulating pesticides at the federal level. 

A State’s authority to regulate pesticides is found in FIFRA, Section 24(a) and reads “A state may regulate the sale or use of any Federally-registered pesticide or device in the state, but only if and to the extent the regulation does not permit any sale or use prohibited by this Act.”  SCS is given further authority in the Agriculture Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland:  Agriculture Article, Title 5, Subtitle 1. 

Does my product/device require Maryland registration?  

Register a New Pesticide Product & Renew or Terminate a Pesticide Product

What is a Pesticide?  

The Agriculture Article, Title 5, Subtitle 1 and Title 5, Subtitle 2, defines a pesticide as any of the following: 

(t)  Pesticide. -- “Pesticide" means (1) any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living humans or other animals, which the Secretary declares to be a pest; and (2) any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant. 

(1) Pesticide. -- "Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended for:  

  1. Preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest;  
  2. Use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant; or  
  3. Use as a spray adjuvant such as a wetting agent or adhesive.  

A product requires registration in Maryland if:  

  1. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs requires registration of the product, and the product is imported, manufactured, produced, mixed, or consigned as part of a commercial enterprise.  
  2. Maryland law requires registration of the product even if U.S. EPA does not (e.g., spray adjuvants, structural pest control devices, FIFRA 25(b) products).

Types of products  

Certain products require both federal and state registration while others require only state registration. The following information will help determine which products require registration in Maryland:  

Products that require U.S. EPA and SCS registration  

Technical grade active ingredient (TGAI) and manufacturing use products (MUPs): Defined as any federally registered product that is distributed or sold for manufacturing, formulation, reformulation, or repackaging into other pesticide products must be registered.  

Maryland requires the registration of TGAI products and MUPs that are:  Manufactured in Maryland or  Used in Maryland to manufacture or formulate an end-use product.  

If the raw material is registered at U.S. EPA as a pesticide, then it must be registered in Maryland before being delivered, consigned, or sold into Maryland for use in the formulation of any pesticide (MUP or End Use) within the state.  

Spray adjuvants require registration with SCS. 

End-use products: products sold, used, or distributed in Maryland (e.g., disinfectants, sanitizers, agricultural chemicals, certain pheromones, home, and garden products, etc.) for pesticidal purposes that are not TGAIs or MUPs.  

Additional products that require Maryland registration  

Additional/alternate brand names: pesticide products sold under alternate/product brand names in Maryland require separate registrations.  

Note: Applicants must notify U.S. EPA of all alternate brand names through their notification process (see U.S. EPA form 8570-1). 

Supplemental distributor products: products distributed or sold under another company’s name and address (also known as supplemental registrations or subregistrants; must have the same formulation, label, and packaging as the basic manufacturer). 

Note: Supplemental distributors must submit to U.S. EPA a statement (U.S. EPA form 8570-5) signed by both the registrant and the distributor acknowledging their agreement. 

Spray adjuvants (often referred to as “adjuvants”): products that are intended to be used with other pesticides to aid the application or enhance the effect of that pesticide (e.g., wetting agents, pH modifiers, stickers, spreaders, etc.). 

Structural pest control devices: any device or method used to mitigate any wood destroying pest. 

FIFRA 25(b) products: FIFRA section 25(b) products must be registered. 

Products that do not require SCS or U.S. EPA registration as pesticides

  1. Fertilizers and soil amendments: Products intended solely for use as fertilizers and soil conditioners are also regulated by SCS. 

  2. Devices: physical or mechanical means to trap, destroy, or mitigate a pest which do not include a pesticidal substance may not need registration.  This is solely dependent upon the label and reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 

    Note: Other requirements do apply to pest control devices. U.S. EPA requires companies that manufacturer pest control devices to obtain U.S. EPA establishment numbers for their products –for more information go to http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/devices. 

  3. Human/Animal Drugs: products intended to control viruses, bacteria, microorganisms or pests regulated by another agency, on or in living man or other animals (e.g., internal parasite control, athlete’s foot products, hand sanitizers, etc.).  

    Note: These products are regulated by a number of different agencies (FDA, Maryland Board of Pharmacy, etc.). Products that are not considered pesticides and are specifically exempted in 40 CFR Parts 152.8, 152.10, and 152.20. 

Types of registrations 

Product registrations and exemptions from registration in Maryland fall into the following types:  

Full registration –  is one that has fulfilled all Maryland registration requirements (known federally as a FIFRA section 3 registration). Note: The majority of products are registered under this section.  

Experimental Use Permit (known federally as a FIFRA section 5 registration). An Experimental Use Permit is a permit issued by U.S. EPA that allows a person/company to test an unregistered pesticide product or an unregistered use of a currently registered product, to develop the data necessary to register the product under Section 3 of FIFRA.  This type of permitting is handled by MDA’s Pesticide Regulation Section. 

FIFRA section 18 – Emergency Exemption from registration. FIFRA section 18 authorizes use of an unregistered pesticide in a state for a limited time if U.S. EPA determines that emergency conditions exist.  This type of exemption is handled by MDA’s Pesticide Regulation Section. FIFRA section 24(c) - Special Local Need (SLN) registration. 

FIFRA section 24(c) allows states to register new products or an additional use of an existing product to address a pest situation that is existing or imminent, and that a Section 3 product cannot currently mitigate.

FIFRA section 25(b) – Exemption from federal registration.