The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to issue regulations on October 31, 2003 concerning atrazine, one of the world's most widely used herbicides. Atrazine has become the subject of controversy surrounding its potential contribution to a worldwide decline in amphibian populations. This bio-era issue brief examines atrazine's economic significance, the international regulatory climate and strategic implications for stakeholders in the agrochemical industry.

Key questions to be answered:

• What is atrazine's commercial and economic significance, and what is its role in controlling the evolution of resistance to other leading herbicides, such as glyphosate?
  
  
• What is the scientific background behind the current controversy and what are the next steps in the EPA's regulatory process?
  
  
• What are the possible implications of the widening gap between European and U.S. regulatory postures in regulating pesticides?
  
  
• What are the strategic implications for the agriculture, agrochemical and environmental industries?

Who will benefit from this research?

• Agrochemical industry executives
  
  
• Farm sector and agricultural biotechnology industry executives
  
  
• Farmers and others in the commercial crop supply chain
  
  
• Environmental issues advocates
  
  
• Advocates working on the effects of "endocrine disrupting" chemicals
  
  
• Federal, state and international agencies involved in legislating,regulating and enforcing health and environmental regulations and standards

Contents:

ATRAZINE USE AND COMMERCIAL SIGNIFICANCE	4
THE EVOLUTION OF RESISTANCE	5
MEASURING ATRAZINE'S ECONOMIC VALUE	6
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS	7
CONSIDERATIONS BY THE EPA	9
EUROPEAN CHEMICAL REGULATION	10
DIVERGING PATHS	11
STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS	17

Excerpt from the Executive Summary

THE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stands at the center of a storm over the re-registration of atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Atrazine is being reviewed as part of the EPA's ongoing program to evaluate older pesticides to ensure that they meet current health and environmental safety standards; the agency's review entails a comprehensive reassessment of existing restrictions on the use of the herbicide. Recent scientific reports have suggested that atrazine disrupts the hormonal systems of certain amphibians, and may be linked to worldwide population declines among the species. These studies have been challenged by other scientists, however, who claim that the evidence of such effect is inconclusive.

The scientific controversy over atrazine highlights the importance of emerging scientific understanding - and uncertainty - about the effects of so-called "endocrine disrupting" chemicals. Under the best of circumstances, these chemical effects are vexingly complex, and the causal links behind them is poorly understood. The EPA's decision on atrazine is an important one, signaling the agency's approach to...

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