Category: Awards
Lois Rossi to Receive the International Award for Advances in Crop Protection Chemistry
The IUPAC Division of Chemistry and the Environment (DCE) administers the IUPAC International Award for Advances in Harmonized Approaches to Crop Protection Chemistry, which recognizes individuals in government, intergovernmental organizations, industry, and academia who have exercised personal leadership for outstanding contributions to international harmonization in the regulation of crop protection chemistry. Global crop protection chemistry is a $40+ billion dollar industry that provides critical pest management tools for protecting worldwide food and fiber production and promoting public health protection for disease vectors. It is also one of the most highly regulated areas of applied chemistry, and a critical problem has been the lack of harmonized approaches between various national regulatory authorities. This lack of harmonization may impede international trade for both chemical products and for harvested crops, which may bear trace residues of the chemicals. Although significant progress in regulatory harmonization has occurred on a regional and international basis during the past 15 or 20 years, the IUPAC award is designed to continue promoting actions promoting harmonization by recognizing those individuals who are making major contributions of global importance.
The award program was inaugurated during 2010, and the competition process is coordinated by the DCE's Subcommittee on Crop Protection Chemistry. Nominations for the award are solicited for receipt by December 1 of odd-numbered years, with the award to be made during even-numbered years in conjunction with an IUPAC-sponsored conference or special symposium. Corporate sponsorship for the award has been arranged with Dow AgroSciences of Indianapolis, US. Awardees receive an honorarium plus meeting registration, travel, and per diem reimbursement.
Lois Rossi Announced as 2012 Awardee
The 2012 IUPAC International Award for Advances in Harmonized Approaches to Crop Protection Chemistry will be presented to Lois A. Rossi of the Office of Pesticide Programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Rossi joined EPA in 1978, and was active in leading pesticide reevaluation efforts during the 1990’s, including implementation efforts for the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. Since 2003, she has served as Director of the EPA Pesticide Registration Division, which evaluates and approves new pesticide active ingredients and new uses. Rossi has been involved for more than 20 years with international regulatory harmonization efforts. Through her activities with the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) Technical Working Group she was instrumental in development of harmonized approaches in the NAFTA region for pesticide evaluation, establishment of maximum residue limits (MRLs) for foods, and pesticide labeling.
Rossi's efforts related to global regulatory harmonization via the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Working Group on Pesticides began in 1991 with a workshop held in Washington, DC, and included major contributions to the design and implementation OECD’s 10-year vision for “A Global Approach to the Regulation of Agricultural Pesticides” launched in 2004. Rossi has also been active in promoting harmonization efforts involving minor and specialty crops through the OECD Expert Group on Minor Uses, and she served as a lead organizer for the inaugural “Global Minor Use Summit” held in Rome during 2007 with the support of FAO, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and representatives of some 60 countries. As head of the US Delegation since 2004, Rossi has led efforts via the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues for development of streamlined international evaluations and accelerated adoption of harmonized MRL standards applicable among the more than 165 Codex member countries.
Rossi has been a tireless advocate for adoption of joint regulatory evaluations of new pesticide active ingredients, whereby the efforts of regulatory authorities in multiple countries are pooled and coordinated for harmonized data reviews. These joint reviews, which began in the NAFTA region and later expanded to a global basis (involving EU member states, US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand), have resulted in a paradigm shift within both governments and the industry whereby such joint reviews are quickly becoming the norm.
As part of her international regulatory harmonization efforts, Rossi has been involved in number of bilateral initiatives aimed at joint advancement of international approaches, and particularly active cooperation has occurred with such countries as China, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Rossi has also been a frequent lecturer at IUPAC-sponsored and other international scientific conferences, and has become one of the most influential and respected advocates for regulatory harmonization.
For further information on the award program, please contact John Unsworth, Chair of the IUPAC Subcommittee on Crop Protection Chemistry (UnsworJO@aol.com), or Kenneth Racke, Past-Chair of the Subcommittee (KRacke@dow.com).