{"id":822062,"date":"2026-07-25T02:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/822062\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T02:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:11:13","slug":"syngenta-ends-paraquat-sales-in-australia-after-new-restrictions-imposed-on-controversial-weed-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/822062\/","title":{"rendered":"Syngenta ends paraquat sales in Australia after new restrictions imposed on controversial weed killer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Major chemical manufacturer Syngenta is ending sales of the controversial herbicide paraquat in Australia, after the national regulator restricted its use.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) introduced new limits and conditions<\/a> on how the chemical can be used.<\/p>\n

The APVMA found no evidence the chemical increased the risk of Parkinson’s disease, if used safely with the authority’s significant restrictions in place.<\/p>\n

In a statement released on Friday, Syngenta ANZ said its decision to exit the paraquat market in Australia and New Zealand came after the APVMA’s limit changes and its own commercial review.<\/p>\n

“Regulatory constraints, combined with a highly complex and increasingly expensive supply chain, have made the paraquat herbicide products commercially unviable,” managing director David Van Ryswyk said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Paraquat is used to control weeds in a range of crops. (ABC Rural: Jess Davis)<\/p>\n

‘No longer sustainable’<\/p>\n

In March, Syngenta announced plans to end production of paraquat at its UK plant, ceasing global production by the end of June.<\/p>\n

At the time the company confirmed a commitment to supplying Australian farmers via a third-party manufacturer.<\/p>\n

Now that’s coming to an end as well.<\/p>\n

“Dedicating significant resources to unprofitable legacy products is no longer sustainable,” Mr Van Ryswyk said.<\/p>\n

“Paraquat has been a highly valued productivity and conservation tool for many Australian and New Zealand growers.<\/p>\n

“This decision, while difficult, allows us to redirect our resources,” he said.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty for farmers<\/p>\n

Generic versions of the herbicide will continue to be sold in Australia, manufactured by other companies.<\/p>\n

But Western Victorian farmer and Grain Producers Australia (GPA) spokesman Andrew Weidemann said Syngenta’s exit created uncertainty.<\/p>\n

“Syngenta has been the stable foundation of this market for decades,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Weidemann said there are many other paraquat chemicals available, but “unfortunately, most of them [are] coming out of China”.<\/p>\n

“[Syngenta’s] withdrawal leaves some important questions about what happens next,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Andrew Weidemann says Syngenta’s exit from Australia creates uncertainty despite generic sales continuing. (ABC Wimmera: Gillian Aeria)<\/p>\n

Mr Weidemann said he was concerned Syngenta’s decision would make label changes required by the APVMA more difficult.<\/p>\n

“Some of the changes in grams active and the withholding periods on late applications in crop, that work will fall clearly on the feet of the industry,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So it’s going to be a cost and \u2026 that’s going to be something that we as the industry will have to work through.”<\/p>\n

Syngenta said it would manage the phase-out of its paraquat products in strict alignment with the APVMA’s designated sell-out and use-by timelines.<\/p>\n

The APVMA has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Major chemical manufacturer Syngenta is ending sales of the controversial herbicide paraquat in Australia, after the national regulator…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[29153,64,63,99,122546,349707,10610,16570,20669,2185,396616],"class_list":["post-822062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-apvma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-herbicide","tag-paraquat","tag-parkinsons-disease","tag-regulation","tag-restrictions","tag-rural","tag-syngenta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}