Pesticide Product Registration

The sale and use of pesticide products in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must comply with both state and federal law. All pesticide uses in the United States are subject to regulation under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). All pesticide uses must either be federally registered pursuant to FIFRA, or permitted under an "emergency exemption" as provided for in Section 18 of FIFRA. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews and accepts, or denies, federal registration of pesticide uses. The state may petition the EPA to allow certain emergency uses due to circumstances which are urgent and non-routine.  

All pesticide products used or distributed into Pennsylvania must be registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA). The state may also register additional uses of a federally registered pesticides to address state specific "special local needs" under Section 24(c) of FIFRA. The EPA allows some pesticide products, which meet very specific criteria, to be sold and used without federal registration as "reduced risk pesticides." However, the Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act does not provide an exemption for "minimum risk pesticides" and therefore "minimum risk pesticides" must be state registered in Pennsylvania.

In order to register a pesticide in PA, the following must be submitted:

1. The market label of the pesticide (must either be in line with the EPA master label or compliant with 25b) FIFRA exemption)
2. The SDS for the product
3. EPA Form 8570-5 for supplemental registrations

Depending on the claims made on the pesticide label, PDA may also ask for efficacy data to prove these claims.

The pesticide registration section is responsible for ensuring that all pesticide products sold and/or used in the Commonwealth are compliant with both FIFRA and the Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act.

The fee for registration is $250 per pesticide product and all pesticide registrations are valid for up to one calendar year and expire on December 31. Registration applications received after October 1 will be valid for the next calendar year. PDA does not generate certificates of registration; the products will appear as “active” for the current fiscal year in PAPlant’s Product Registration Brand Search on the Bureau of Plant Industry page. 

Additional resources: U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Program