Australia extends quintozene suspension

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has decided to continue the suspension of the active constituent approvals for quintozene and the product registrations and label approvals of products containing quintozene. The suspensions are in effect from 14 April 2013 until 14 April 2014.

Due to the presence of undeclared dioxins as impurities in products that contain quintozene as the active constituent, the APVMA first suspended quintozene active approvals, effective 9 April 2010 until 12 April 2011.

In April 2011, the APVMA acted again to continue the suspension of all approvals of the active constituent quintozene for a further 12 months, to allow the manufacturer additional time to generate new data. The manufacturer provided the APVMA with additional data but the APVMA continued the suspension of all approvals of the active constituent quintozene until 14 April 2013 to allow time to consider this application. This application is being assessed but the APVMA has not made a decision. The APVMA has decided to continue the suspension of the active constituent approvals for a further 12 months until 14 April 2014.