On January 18, 2019, Bloomberg Environment featured comments by James V. Aidala, Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs with The Acta Group (Acta^®), regarding delayed pesticide product approvals.

The EPA also processes thousands of applications for so-called “me-too” chemicals—pesticides that are nearly identical to other products already on the market.

“EPA is normally able to process those applications pretty quickly,” said Jim Aidala, a government affairs consultant for Bergeson and Campbell PC.

Many farmers and small and medium-sized businesses are banking on those me-too approvals for the upcoming crop season, Aidala said.

“A six week backlog could really screw stuff up,” he said. “Especially if growers were depending on those products.”

See - https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/pesticide-makers-face-product-approval-delays-during-shutdown (subscription required)