AN INSIDER LOOK AT AN INDUSTRY LAWYER'S REACTION TO THE BASF RULING --- Calling the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in Peterson v. BASF a "horrible, outcome-driven opinion," a leading attorney for pesticide companies claims that it poses a threat to EPA's authority to regulate pesticide labels free from the "whims of individual juries".

GENERIC PESTICIDE LABELS MAY REFERENCE COMPETING BRAND NAMES, EPA RULES -- Gro-Pro is a small company with big plans after convincing EPA to allow "me-too" label statements that explicitly link its active ingredients to competing brand names, although it remains to be seen how basic manufacturers will react as generic registrants begin to ride on their brand name coattails.

A PESTICIDE.NET PROFILE OF GRO-PRO'S RANDY CANADY --- Randy Canady is Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Gro-Pro LLC, which has shaken up the industry after convincing EPA to allow it to reference competing brand name products on its "me-too" pesticide labels.

PESTICIDE DRIFT CONTROVERSIES ACCENTUATED AT INITIAL EPA WORKGROUP MEETING -- Tempers flare as industry representatives try to rein in environmental panelists from expanding the group's mandate into broader issues. There was agreement, however, that pesticide labels sorely need better definitions to minimize drift and enhance enforcement, amidst hopes that EPA might finally make definitional improvements a top priority.

HUMAN PESTICIDE STUDIES ENDORSED BY EPA PANEL DESPITE ETHICS CONCERNS --- In its inaugural meeting, EPA's Human Studies Review Board confronted more science policy and risk-assessment procedures than its members, as a whole, could quickly absorb. Nevertheless, the Board generally signed off on EPA's use of older human-dosing studies on such pesticides as aldicarb, azinphos-methyl and DDVP.

INAUGURAL REVIEW OF HUMAN PESTICIDE STUDIES BY EPA BOARD PROVOKES MIXED REACTIONS -- An industry scientist claims the studies are valid but warns that EPA has expanded the scope of the reviews to include issues beyond the expertise of some panelists. An environmentalist scientist, however, argues that most of the studies are statistically weak and involved pesticides that are too risky for ever using in human dosing studies.