A company had applied to the Pesticides Board to have the calicivirus disease registered as a pesticide, Agriculture Ministry spokeswomen Debbie Gee said yesterday. If the board agreed, regional councils and large groups of farmers could spread the virus or help to spread it without fear of legal action against them under the Pesticides Act, she said. At present, it was legal only for individual farmers to spread the virus on their own properties, or to give samples to their peers, Ms Gee said. The board was to consider the application next month.