Frankfurt am Main — German chemical giant BASF said on Thursday that it would not re-apply for EU authorisation for some uses of pesticide Fipronil, which is at the heart of a tainted egg scandal that has set member states at odds. "For business reasons, BASF has decided not to pursue re-registration for treatment of seeds in Europe," a spokesperson told AFP, adding that the authorisation would expire on September 30. The pesticide was only authorised for a small number of applications in treating seeds, it added, making the "high costs" of the registration process uneconomical. BASF added that its decision did not affect the chemical’s use as a "biocide" against ants, cockroaches and termites, which is allowed in the EU until 2023. On Wednesday, Belgium accused the Netherlands food safety authority, NVWA, of failing to inform it that eggs were tainted with Fipronil, despite knowing about it since last November. NVWA denied it had known definitively about the contamination so soon, ...
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