• Topics: Pesticide Information Office | Fishel, Frederick M | Pesticide Certification and Licensing | Postharvest and Handling

Licensing of Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation Applicators in Florida¹

This document explains the licensing and regulation of persons who apply restricted use fumigant pesticides to raw agricultural commodities in Florida, as regulated by the Florida Pesticide Law (Chapter 487), and administered by the Florida Department of Consumer Services.

Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation Pest Control

All Persons who apply or supervise the application of restricted use fumigant pesticides to raw agricultural commodities must have a pesticide applicator license issued by the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring/Pesticide Certification Section. The Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation category is regulated by the Florida Pesticide Law (Florida Statutes, Chapter 487).

Category Certification Standards

Applicators seeking a license in this category must demonstrate practical knowledge of:

• pests of raw agricultural commodities;

• the fumigant pesticides that may be used to control such pests;

• the equipment or methodologies required to safely implement fumigation measures to control such pests;

• the basics of fumigant pesticide toxicology;

• application methodologies for fumigating stored agricultural commodities;

• techniques and procedures for monitoring the concentration of a fumigant pesticide in a storage facility or in air or water;

• use and maintenance of personal protective equipment and clothing; and

• specific safety procedures for handling pressurized chemicals and for avoiding non-target exposure to a fumigant pesticide.

License Classification

Certified raw agricultural commodity fumigation applicators may be licensed as either public applicators or commercial applicators. These are the major differences:

• A public applicator is a licensed applicator employed by a public or governmental agency. The license is only valid when performing work for the public or governmental agency. The public applicator fee for a four-year license is $100.

• A commercial applicator is a licensed applicator who is licensed to apply restricted-use pesticides on any property provided they are certified in the category for which the applications are made. A commercial applicator is usually a contract applicator. The commercial applicator fee for a four-year license is $250.

Examinations

Persons must successfully complete two examinations before they can apply to the Department for a license. These examinations are a Core examination and a Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation category examination. The Core examination may be taken at any PlaceTypeplaceUniversity of Florida IFAS County Extension Office. The Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation examination may be taken at a University of Florida IFAS County Extension Office that offers category examinations. No special qualifications must be met to take the examination. There is no fee to take the examinations.

Study Materials

Manuals and study materials for Core and Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation applicators who will be taking exams may be obtained from the UF/IFAS Extension Bookstore by calling 1-800-226-1764 or on-line at http://ifasbooks.ifas.ufl.edu/. The content of the Core exam is based upon the manual, Applying Pesticides Correctly (Figure 1). The content of the Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation exam is based upon a packet of literature from several sources and is sold as the Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation packet (Figure 2).

Figure 1. 

Figure 2. 

SM 66: Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation Study Packet.

[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Recertification

Applicators must recertify every four years. To recertify, applicators may take the examinations again or attend training and obtain 4 continuing education units (CEUs) approved for the Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation category and 4 CEUs approved for the Core category. Core CEUs can't be used to meet the required Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation category CEUs. No substitutions of other types of CEUs are allowed. Opportunities to earn CEUs may be found at http://www.flaes.org/.

Restricted Use Pesticides Applied in the Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation Category

Table 1 lists Florida's restricted use pesticides that are applied in the Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation category and the reason for the restricted classification. A complete listing of all restricted use pesticides in Florida may be viewed at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PI073.

Additional Information

Fishel, F.M. 2005. Restricted use pesticides. UF/IFAS EDIS Fact Sheet PI-36, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PI073.

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Bureau of Compliance Monitoring, Pesticide Licensing Section, 3125 Conner Drive, Bldg. 8, L-29, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1650, Phone: 850-488-3314, http://www.flaes.org/complimonitoring/index.html (accessed July 22, 2010).

University of Florida/IFAS Pesticide Information Office, P.O. Box 110710, Bldg. 164, Gainesville, FL 32611-0710, Phone: 352-392-4721, http://pested.ifas.ufl.edu/. (accessed July 22, 2010).

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.

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