BASF, Corteva, Seek Rehearing of Dicamba Decision

BASF and Corteva both filed motions to request a rehearing on a court decision that vacated registrations for dicamba herbicides. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last month vacated the registrations for three dicamba herbicides, including BASF’s Enginia, Corteva’s FeXapan and Bayer’s Xtend. Specifically, BASF’s petition requests a review of the decision by a panel of 11 judges from the Ninth Circuit instead of the three-judge panel that issued the previous decision. This request for “en banc” review, according to BASF, “is necessary to correct errors by the panel in issuing a decision inconsistent with basic due process and administrative law principles.” BASF says the panel’s decision undermined the EPA’s authority to make science- and data-based regulatory decisions to determine which herbicide products are safe and effective to meet the challenges farmers face. Further, the company says the decision “was unprecedented and devastating to tens of thousands of farmers” who rely on dicamba.