Regardless of what company makes the herbicide, the core issue is whether generic herbicides are as good as brand-name ones. Jerry Spencer of ETP Turf asks, which is best ...
Generic or Branded?
And, with the careers that we have chosen, many of you have, at some stage, had to ‘Roundup® weeds.
. ’ your
However, how many of you actually do use Aspirin for that troublesome headache or actually used Roundup for weed control?
A brief look in my medicine cabinet shows no aspirin but, instead, a product called Disprin® which, the packet informs me, is a generic form of aspirin. When I talk to the majority of turf managers about Roundup they say that they use a generic as “it’s the same stuff only cheaper”. Is this true, and what factors influence this purchasing behaviour?
I would hazard a guess that many of you, at some stage, may have made a visit to the medicine cupboard for an Aspirin®
T
he simplest way to define a generic pesticide is as one which is manufactured by a company other than the original manufacturer, whilst
a generic manufacturer is “a company, or division of a company, whose major activity consists of manufacturing the active substances of pesticides, the patents for which have expired, and for which it did not hold the original patents”. In 1996, patent-protected active substances accounted for 47% of the total global agrochemical market, with up to 60% of the herbicide market comprising generics. In terms of size, the biggest generic
producer is the Israeli company Makhteshim-Agan, who partly own Farmoz in Australia. Its sales bring it into the top twenty agrochemical companies world-wide, and sales are rising faster than any of the leading R&D led companies. Other major companies are the US Griffin, which recently formed a 50- 50 joint venture with Du Pont, and the Danish company Cheminova Agro, who own a share of Ospray in Australia and recently acquired a large Indian company. Chinese and Indian companies remain a major and growing force in the generic market. In recent years, there has been a
proliferation of generic pesticides in the turfcare market, look-alike products with different commercial names but the same active ingredient,
which is the component responsible for its ability to control the target pest. Generic herbicides are the fastest growing sector in crop production chemicals, but will they work well for you and save you money? Registered agricultural and turf
products are priced to include the cost of the testing and registration process, and it’s this that provides assurance of quality and efficacy. Registered turf chemicals have passed a rigorous testing programme that ensures they are suitable for use and, when used according to the label instructions, manufacturers of registered chemical products provide a warranty.
In the USA, in order to receive
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration, a post-patent product must have the same technical merit as the current manufacturer branded product. The active ingredient must be the same technical material, which might be produced by the branded manufacturer or another manufacturer.
The same is true of solvents and inert ingredients. All generic products must pass rigorous EPA review and approval. If the formula changes from the originally branded product, those changes must get approval before it is registered. If anything in the formulation differs, the changes must have gained the approval of the EPA for the off-patent
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