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How to Apply for Pesticide Product Registration

A pesticide product must be registered by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) before the product can be sold or offered for sale in California. Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, antimicrobials, plant growth regulators, avicides, and rodenticides. Also included are adjuvants which are packaged and sold separately. All applications for registration are processed by the Registration Specialist.

To apply for product registration, an applicant must submit the following:

  • Application for Registration form with the $750 application fee per product.
  • Six copies of the printed label (or printer's proof)
  • Data as listed below (or identification of a product(s) previously approved by the Director that would be subject to the same data requirements as applicable to the applicant’s product.) See CA Notice 2005-10 (PDF, 47 kb) for required formatting guidelines. Submissions that do not conform to these guidelines will be returned or held until they are prepared for processing.
  • Copy of the U.S. EPA-approved label and letter (unless the product is exempted from U.S. EPA registration). If the application can be submitted concurrently as indicated below, the U.S. EPA-approved label and letter must be submitted before DPR registration can be granted.

In general, the following data are required for registration:

  • Acute toxicology data on the formulated product
  • Product chemistry data
  • Efficacy data (product performance)
  • Phytotoxicity data if used on a plant
  • Fish and wildlife data, if applicable
  • Volatile emissions potential data (thermogravametric analysis of data)
  • Chronic toxicology data, if product contains a new active ingredient to California
  • Environmental fate data for the first agricultural use of the active ingredient in California
  • Medical management data, if product contains a new active ingredient to California

If the product requires scientific evaluation of the data, the decision to register or to deny is posted for a 30-day public comment period. These postings are available at Notices of Proposed and Final Decisions.

After a product is registered, it is subject to an annual renewal fee and a quarterly mill assessment. Registered products are also subject to reevaluation, risk assessment, and data call-ins.

If any amendments to the product label or formulation are made, these must be submitted to DPR for approval before the product with the new label or formulation can be sold. Effective January 1, 2004, amendments requiring scientific data must include a $100 application fee.

For a distributor registration, subregistration, or a product ownership or name change, contact your assigned DPR Registration Specialist for information. If you are a new company and do not have an assigned Registration Specialist, contact the Ombudsman.

Concurrent submissions to U.S. EPA and DPR are allowed for new pesticide products containing new active ingredients, and for antimicrobial products which meet the criteria in California Notice to Registrants 2002-5.

More detailed information about applying for registration is on the DPR Application for Registration form instructions.

Access the Registration Branch Organizational Chart (PDF, 111 kb)

The Registration Branch Functional Directory