The controversy surrounding whether Paraquat is safe to use has ended with Syngenta ANZ planning to remove the herbicide from sale
Paraquat herbicide will no longer be available from Syngenta ANZ following an exit strategy in line with a detirmination by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) the herbicide could only continue in a diluted application.
A 30-year investigation by the AVPR released on 23 June 2026 concluded Group L herbicides Paraquat and Diquat were safe to use, albeit in reduced dosages, was slammed heavily by several medical associations, with Parkinson’s Australia disease neurologists’ adamant the herbicide contributed to the high level of farmer’s contracting the condition.
During the review process the APVMA received 171 submissions from scientists, doctors, the agricultural industry and other interested parties. Submissions on paraquat and diquat included a range of concerns.
But the APVMA stuck to its guns with advice to growers to dilute the rate of application on paraquat and diquat to 231 grams per hectare, when it was previously recommended at 1150 grams per hectare. A level used to the revision advice day for over 30 years, 79.91% above current recommended levels, already applied to cropping ground.
The decision for Syngenta to cease offering Paraquat was also prompted by a phase out of production of the herbicide at Syngenta’s Huddersfield UK site, the only manufacturing facility for this active ingredient globally.
Once the final Paraquat drum is removed from retail shelves, growers will need to look at alternative applications currently applied by growers in the entire European Union, the United Kingdom, and even China where the chemical was banned in 2017. Paraquat use in our cropping program has also been a sticking point for grain exports to the EU since the chemical was banned there in 2007.
See an investigation on this link by the ABC about the level of Parkinson’s in Dean near Ballarat VIC that they indicate is linked to overuse of Paraquat.
Syngenta advises Paraquat exit plan
Syngenta announced it will remove paraquat as an active ingredient in both its Australian and New Zealand product lines.A decision welcomed by many medical facilities.
And while Syngenta understood its paraquat product lines were highly favoured by Australian and New Zealand growers for conservation planting it would not be supporting the product after a determined timeline.
The company indicated it would put resources into producing the next generation of advanced, sustainable crop protection technologies.
Regulatory constraints, combined with a highly complex and increasingly expensive supply chain, have made the paraquat herbicide products commercially unviable.
Syngenta ANZ managing director David Van Ryswyk assured growers, “Syngenta remains deeply committed to agriculture and will continue to invest heavily in bringing innovative, alternative crop protection solutions to market to help growers manage resistant weeds and protect their yields.”
“The company will manage the phase-out of its paraquat products in strict alignment with the APVMA’s designated sell-out and use-by timelines,” he concluded.
See our previous story when the APVMA announced its conclusion that Paraquat and Diquat were safe to use in a diluted form, on this link.
