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Nineteen staff involved in the authorization of pesticides from Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay met from 7 – 11 May 2018 in Montevideo (Uruguay) to discuss the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention and get acquainted with the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit. The participants reviewed the benefits and obligations of the Rotterdam Convention as well as ways in which MERCOSUR member countries can collaborate to strengthen pesticide management in the region. Furthermore, the participants were informed about the contents of FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit, and how this new tool can assist pesticide registration authorities to take informed decisions about the pesticides they authorize for use in their respective countries. The various modules of the Toolkit were presented and their navigation and use were practiced. The importance of sound decision making for pesticide registration was discussed, in particular given the need to protect human health and biodiversity while ensuring sustainable intensification of agricultural production in the region. This workshop was organized jointly by FAO and the Rotterdam Convention.

Pesticide regulatory authorities from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia met in Tunis, from 12 – 16 March 2018, to discuss the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention and the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit. The workshop was attended by 20 experts, members of the national pesticide registration committees and of their technical secretariats as well as Designated National Authorities of the Rotterdam Convention. Participants were initiated in the navigation and use of FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit and discussed how the various modules of the Toolkit could support national pesticide evaluation and authorization. Particular attention was given to ways in which the Toolkit could complement and strengthen the existing national pesticide registration procedures.The meeting also discussed implementation of the Rotterdam Convention, notably the elaboration of notifications of final regulatory actions to ban or severely restrict a pesticide, and the associated risk evaluations. The meeting was primarily funded by the Rotterdam Convention and was organized by its secretariat in collaboration with FAO Subregional Office for North Africa.  

Fourteen staff of the pesticide registration authorities of Cameroon, including two members of the Interstate Committee of Pesticides in Central Africa, gathered in the city of Edea in Cameroon, from 11 – 15 December 2017, to participate in a training on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit. The FAO Toolkit is designed to assist pesticide registrars from developing countries in the day-to-day pesticide registration tasks, including risk assessment. It facilitates finding data requirements, evaluating human and environmental risks, and determining risk mitigation measures. The training was organised by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cameroon, under the project Disposal of existing POPs and other obsolete pesticides and implementation of a sound pest and pesticide management in Cameroon funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The participants included staff of the Cameroon National Commission in charge of Pesticide Registration and Certification of Application Equipment (CNHPCAT), staff of the Department of Regulation and Quality Control of Agricultural Products and Inputs (DRCQ) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and staff of the Interstate Committee of Pesticides in Central Africa (CPAC). The key role of these organisations is to ensure that pesticides authorised for use in Cameroon and in the region do not pose unacceptable risks to human health.

A National workshop on the application of the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was held in Gaborone, Botswana, December 10-15, 2017. Around 25 participants from different departments participated in the workshop hosted by the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security. This workshop was organized under the framework of GEFF project GCP/BOT/011/GFF – Component 2, "strengthening the pesticide regulatory capacity in Botswana" and aimed to strengthen pesticide regulatory management capacity and coordination between the different departments involved within Botswana. In addition, attention was given to the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention by the Botswana registrars.

A five day regional workshop on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was organized in Hanoi, Vietnam, October 16-20, 2017.Pesticide registrars from three countries, Lao PDR (2), Thailand (3) and Vietnam (17) participated in the training workshop, which was hosted by the Plant Protection Department of Vietnam. The participants were introduced to the Toolkit through presentations and practical exercises and shared experiences with their colleagues from the other participating countries. All participants expressed positive views of the training and the toolkit and the foresee the use of various modules to support future review of pesticide applications and decision making. Information sources, data requirements and the registration strategy “Registration by analogy” was considered particularly useful. The workshop was organized within the framework of the regional programme “Towards a non-toxic South-East Asia”, financed by the government of Sweden.

From 18 - 29 September 2017, FAO hosted a second training-of-trainers workshop on its Pesticide Registration Toolkit. This particular training of trainers focussed on French and Spanish speaking experts, which will enable the Toolkit team to provide Toolkit training in Francophone and Spanish speaking countries and thus reach out to parts of Africa and Latin America. During the training, a global team of experts in pesticide registration and management (Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mali, Peru and Tunisia) discussed materials developed by FAO to make registration authorities in developing countries aware of the Toolkit and train them in its use. Registration is an important step in management of pesticides. It enables authorities primarily to determine which products are permitted to be used and for what purposes, and also to exercise control over quality, use levels, claims, labelling, packaging and advertising of pesticides. Thus, registration a key step to ensure that the interests of end-users as well as the environment are well protected. This process is particularly complex in countries with limited resources. To help filling this gap, the FAO Toolkit is designed for assisting pesticide registrars from developing countries in the day to day tasks to conduct pesticide registration, including those aspects that concern risk assessment. It facilitates finding data requirements, evaluating human and environmental risks, and determining risk mitigation measures. The Toolkit will also assist registrars in accessing many kinds of pesticide-specific information such as the registration status in other countries, scientific reviews and hazard classifications among others. Hans Dreyer, Director of the Plant Production and Protection Division at FAO, stressed to participants that the FAO Agricultural Department is pursuing sustainable crop production intensification that follows Integrated Pest Management approaches based on agro-ecological principles. Reducing risks of pesticides is an important component that still faces many challenges, and the newly developed FAO Toolkit on Pesticide Registration will provide strong support to pesticide regulatory authorities particularly in developing countries on sound management and risk reduction of pesticides throughout their life cycle.  An extensive programme to roll out the Toolkit in various Francophone and Spanish speaking regions of the world was also established. FAO will continue to develop new modules in the Toolkit and update its contents, to ensure that pesticide registration staff are supported in contributing to sustainable agricultural intensification. For more information, contact Gu Baogen ([email protected])

A six day regional workshop on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was organized from May 29 to June 2 in Beijing, China. Pesticide registrars from Lao PR (4), Cambodia (4), Philipines (4), Indonesia (1) and China (15) participated in this training workshop, which was jointly organized by the FAO Regional Office for Southeast Asia and ICAMA, the Chinese Institute for Control of Agrochemicals - Ministry of Agriculture. The participants were introduced to the Toolkit through presentations and practical exercises and shared experiences with their colleagues from the different participating countries. ICAMA, the host institute, presented its experiences with Highly Hazardous Pesticides and assessment modelling for occupational and environmental risks. Even though the countries differ greatly in the resources available for- and current approaches to- registration of pesticides, the Toolkit proved to contain elements for each country to improve registration practices at their own resource level.

Pesticide registrars from 10 countries in the Pacific discussed far-reaching regional collaboration to strengthen the registration of pesticides. The meeting was held in Nadi, Fiji, from 8 – 12 May 2017, to review a draft memorandum of understanding among countries and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), for the establishment of a Pacific Pesticide Registration and Management Scheme.The FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was introduced during the meeting and participants practiced its navigation. Various modules of the Toolkit, such as decision making, registration strategies, assessment methods and information sources, were used to suggest methods that the proposed Regional Pesticide Advisory Committee can apply when conducting scientific evaluation of the pesticides submitted for registration in the Pacific.See the SPC website for more information.

A national workshop on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was organized from 27 to 31 March in Blantyre, Malawi. The training workshop was conducted to strengthen the Pesticide Control Board’s regulatory capacity to ensure sound management of pesticides. The trainees comprised 8 staff members from the Pesticide Control Board (Registration office and inspection team), two members of the PCB Technical Team and the national FAO project coordinator. During the workshop the participants were presented with the contents of the Toolkit and practical exercises that allow them to make use of the Toolkit in their day-to-day work. One of the recommendations of the participants from this workshop was to include into the Toolkit a glossary of frequently used pesticide registration terminologywhich has since been implemented under the Terms and Defintions section on the website. The workshop was funded by the Pesticide Risk Reduction project in Malawi.

FAO organized a workshop on the Pesticide Registration Toolkit, from 7 to 11 February 2017, In Claxton Bay, Trinidad. Twenty-six participants took part in the workshop, coming from 13 Caribbean countries. Participants were either registrars of pesticides, staff of pesticide registration authorities, or otherwise involved in the evaluation and authorization of pesticides. The workshop covered the structure and contents of the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit and consisted of presentations, discussions, exercises and case studies. Participants familiarized themselves with the various modules of the Toolkit and became comfortable navigating and using it. Pesticide registration staff considered the Toolkit very useful for their daily work. The workshop had provided new insights about options and methods that can be used for the evaluation of a pesticide. The participants also underlined the importance of regional collaboration and information exchange in the Caribbean.