The EU Commission has announced its decision not to renew the approval for the fungicide active ingredient, propiconazole.

As a result, all products containing propiconazole for any market, including turf management and crop protection, will be withdrawn from sale over the coming months.

Manufacturer Syngenta has announced that for turf managers, the fungicides affected by this EU decision will be:

• Banner Maxx
• Banner Maxx II
• Headway
• Instrata

Under the non-renewal regulations, the following key dates will implicate the final opportunity to buy and use any propiconazole-based fungicides in the UK and Ireland:

Syngenta issued a statement saying they were disappointed by the EU Commission decision, and they maintain the position that propiconazole does not pose a risk to human health or the environment, when used in accordance with current label recommendations.

Syngenta also said they continue to invest in turf specific R&D to ensure a range of state-of-the-art products will be available to the turf industry, to support their businesses.

Following on from the recent introduction of Instrata Elite, Syngenta hopes to launch another new fungicide early in 2019. Based on new chemistry it is already in the regulatory authority registration process, and offers a replacement for propiconazole products. The company says trials show it delivers effective and broad spectrum activity with lower active ingredient loading.