Potato growers will have until 20 March 2009 to use the soil nematicide, Telone II, before its approval is revoked, the Pesticides Safety Directorate has announced.

The last advertisements, sales and supply by any persons have to be made by 20 March 2008.

The European Commission’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health decided in May 2007 it was not possible to conclude that Telone II’s active ingredient, 1,3-dichloropropene met the safety criteria required for its future approval.

But manufacturer Dow AgroSciences is intending to submit further data to lift Telone II on to Annex 1 before the product is due to be taken off the market, the firm’s John Sellars says.

Telone II provides the most effective control of both potato cyst and free-living nematodes available to growers, says the NFU. PCN costs potato growers an estimated 10% of production worth about £50m every year.

But if 1,3-dichloropropene is not successfully included on Annex 1 by 20 March 2009, the product will be revoked with immediate effect on that date.