Pesticides; White Paper Describing Benefits of Structured and Digital Content Labels for Pesticide Products; Notice of Availability and Request for Comment

Résumé

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on a white paper describing the benefits of the creation, submission, review, approval, and distribution of structured content and digital pesticide labels. Structured labels are information or content that is organized in a predictable way, and digital content is those categorized fields with metadata. The current process for submitting, reviewing, and approving labels is time-consuming for both registrants and regulators. The increasing complexity of pesticide labels, inconsistent label language across products, and inconsistent placement of information on the labels often creates significant challenges for pesticide users and the public seeking information about how to use the products. Structured content and digital labels could streamline and standardize the submission, review, and access to label content, providing benefits across the spectrum of stakeholders. In addition to developing a framework for structured content and digital labels, EPA intends to identify the key information needed for the structured digital label.