Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1537616
36 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2025 counterparts in the agricultural chemical space. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), data supporting a reg- istered active ingre- dient or pesti- cide product and relied upon by the EPA to maintain a reg- istration are, for 15 years, "compensa- ble" when cited or relied upon by third parties to support follow-on FIFRA registrations. These data are bought, sold, and valued based on a complicated calculus reflecting the study costs (e.g., laboratory invoices), risk avoidance, interest, the time value of money, and other financial variables. In disputed cases, American Arbitration Association panels decide valuation decisions in trial-like arbitrations. This process has existed for decades. FIFRA data, like Registration, Evaluation, Authori- sation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) data, will remain undisclosed unless they satisfy cer- tain conditions, including provisions in FIFRA Sec- tion 10(g) that prohibit the release of data to for- eign or multinational corporations. Companies can- not claim TSCA health and safety data as confi- dential. Although TSCA Section 4 includes a data cost reimbursement mechanism, regulators have largely ignored it. REACH helped strengthen the concept of monetizing chemical data, and the rec- ognition of data as a currency in the industrial chemical community is now a more prevailing view. The Essentiality of Data A company's freedom to operate is increasingly tied to its ability to prove the safety of its prod- ucts. Regulatory trends demonstrate this. The EPA's enhanced authority under new TSCA Sec- tion 4 to compel chemical data production reflects Lynn Bergeson