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From 26 February to 2 March 2023, 16 staff of the Plant Protection & Phytosanitary Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture and members of the National Pesticide Registration Committee of Jordan participated in a FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit in Amman, organized jointly by FAO and the Government of Netherlands. Pesticides is widely used in Jordan for boosting agricultural production and exports. Inappropriate pesticide uses pose great threats to human health and the environment and the risks are not properly mitigated, due to weak pesticide management. This hinders the transition of Jordan agriculture to more sustainable and resilient crop production systems and to agro-ecological approaches adoption. The workshop aimed to support the country moves towards sound pesticide management and   minimize pesticides adverse effects on human health and the environment for food security and food safety, contributing to a better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, through strengthening capacities for pesticide registration. The meeting was opened by Mr. Nabil Assaf, FAO Representative in Jordan, Mr Imad Mohammad Eid Jrouh Alawad, Director of Plant Protection & Phytosanitary Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture of Jordan and Mr Coen van Kessel, Second Secretary Economic Affairs, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan. They remarked that Jordan is in the process of intensifying its agricultural production to meet domestic demands for food but also to boost agricultural exports. Such intensification usually happens with increasing human health and environmental risks. The FAO Toolkit training will significantly help the National Pesticide Registration Committee members in evaluating hazardous pesticides and in taking appropriate actions to reduce their risks. During the five-day training participants were introduced to different modules of the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit, practiced pesticides evaluation through various exercises and case studies, learnt to navigate the ToolKit, and discussed its use in day-to-day regulatory work. The training was highly rated by participants as very helpful in everyday work of risk assessment and decision-making of registration. The follow-up training activities on specific modules of the Toolkit will be further discussed. The FAO Toolkit training was organized within the framework of collaborative project between the governments of the Netherlands and Jordan that is executed by Wageningen University and Research (WUR) and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Products Safety Authority (NVWA).

The trained officials join over 400 people from more than 70 countries that FAO has taught to navigate the Toolkit and use it effectively since it first went online, in 2016. For two years, COVID-19 prevented the Pesticide Registration Toolkit training workshop from taking place. Now with travel gradually opening up, hybrid workshops are being arranged with participants attending in person and facilitators joining in virtually.  Zimbabwe recently broke the lull, holding its first such workshop on 14-18 February 2022 in Mutare. The session brought together 20 government officials responsible for pesticide regulation and management from the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, and Health face-to-face with one facilitator Ms Ivy Saunyama, a Toolkit trainer. In addition, three Toolkit trainers from the FAO Plant Production and Protection Division, participated virtually. The participants lauded the Toolkit training and discussed how they would use it in their day-to-day work. They added that they eagerly anticipate updates to the Toolkit, especially the modules on biopesticides.

Atendiendo la solicitud del Gobierno de México, la FAO organizó el taller nacional “Kit de herramientas de registro de plaguicidas de la FAO y el Convenio de Rotterdam” realizado del 21 al 25 de octubre de 2019 en México, D.F. en estrecha colaboración con la Secretaría del Convenio de Rotterdam. Participaron 20 funcionarios involucrados en la evaluación y registro de plaguicidas, con experiencia en protección de plantas, agricultura, medio ambiente y salud pública. Facilitaron técnicamente el evento los consultores de la FAO Sr. Arturo Correa y Sra. Alicia De La Rosa B. así como el Sr. Gero Vaagt, experto en gestión de plaguicidas. Las sesiones sobre el Convenio de Rotterdam estuvieron a cargo del Sr. Mario Yarto y la Srta. Elaine Acosta, de la Secretaría del Convenio de Rotterdam. El objetivo del taller fue fortalecer la comprensión de las obligaciones y beneficios relacionados con el Convenio de Rotterdam, así como las capacidades para mejorar el registro de plaguicidas en México, a través del uso del kit de Herramientas desarrollado por la FAO. Adicionalmente y como una externalidad positiva, esta actividad generó un espacio propicio para realizar intercambio de información y experiencias, para con ello identificar algunas brechas del proceso de registro en México. Como conclusión, analizaron y consideraron algunos objetivos: mejorar la coordinación entre agencias, actualizar el marco legal, internalizar el Kit de herramientas de registro de plaguicidas de la FAO, aumentar y mejorar las capacidades institucionales (evaluadores, certificadores, infraestructura analítica, presupuesto, personal, incentivos, etc.). Además de fortalecer acuerdos como: MÉXICO-EE. UU.-CANADÁ (pesticidas TWG) (registro conjunto de nuevas moléculas); OCDE el Centro Regional del Convenio de Estocolmo, la red de productos químicos y desechos (Foro de Ministros de Medio Ambiente del GRULAC), entre otros, con el fin de fortalecer el trabajo en la evaluación de plaguicidas.

A one-day special session on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was organized at the WHO/FAO Workshop on Prevention and Management of Obsolete Pesticides and Used Containers, held from 25–29 August 2019 in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The workshop was attended by 25 experts from Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Tunisia, as well as staff from various UN organizations. Participants comprised of staff from national vector-control programmes who use insecticides for vector control and those from ministries of environment responsible for policy, regulation and integrated management and the safe disposal of stock piles of chemicals including pesticides. The special session provided an introduction to the structure and contents of the Toolkit and then focussed in particular on the evaluation and registration of public health pesticides (PHPs). The special module in the Toolkit on PHPs had been developed in close collaboration with WHO and its use for registration of such products was discussed.

A national workshop on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was held in Trinidad and Tobago from 4 – 8 February 2019. The workshop was organized at the request of the Ministry of Health of Trinidad and Tobago with the aim to strengthen the national regulatory authority in conducting more scientific-based evaluation of pesticides dossiers submitted for pesticides registration. In addition to pesticide registration staff from Trinidad and Tobago, participants from the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname had been invited. The workshop was facilitated by Ms Seynabou Diagne, of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Health Canada, and Mr Guy Mathurin of FAO in Barbados. Ms Jonelle Jones, of NRM Solutions in Trinidad and Tobago, conducted the session on highly hazardous pesticides. All modules of the Toolkit were presented and participants practiced how best to navigate its contents and apply pesticide evaluation methods. Many participants considered the Toolkit an “eye-opener” and appreciated the very organized and science-based approaches that were provided to assess registration dossiers. Participants agreed to share the knowledge with their colleagues when returning to their respective institutions.

A National workshop on the application of the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit was held in Kigali, Rwanda, October 29 - November 2, 2018.The objective of the training workshop was to familiarize participants with the structure and contents of the Toolkit and discuss how it can be used in the day-to-day work of pesticide registration staff. A total of 16 participants successfully completed the training. The trainees comprised staff members from the Rwanda Agriculture, Livestock Inspection and Certification Services (RALIS), Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB), Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), Rwanda Agriculture Inputs Dealers Association (RAIDA), HortInvest and Agribusiness Focussed Partnership Organization (AGRIFOP). The workshop was organized by FAO and was organized with the participation of Wageningen University.

La Secretaría General de la Comunidad Andina (SGCAN), presentó una solicitud de asistencia técnica a la FAO, en el marco de las disposiciones contenidas en la Decisión 804 que aprobó la Norma Andina para el Registro y Control de los Plaguicidas Químicos de Uso Agrícola, en la cual se dispuso la actualización de su Manual Técnico y el establecimiento de requisitos y condiciones para que en el registro de plaguicidas se pueda utilizar la metodología de equivalencias químicas. La FAO, atendiendo dicha solicitud y considerando que varios de los aspectos de su requerimiento están desarrollados en el “Kit de herramientas para el Registro de Plaguicidas de la FAO”, desarrolló el Taller Regional Andino del 20 al 25 de octubre de 2018 en Lima, Perú, en el cual participaron 23 oficiales de registro de los cuatro países, 4 funcionarios de la SGCAN, 2 expertos internacionales (Canadá y México para el desarrollo del tema de Equivalencias químicas), el equipo de la FAO y de la secretaría del Convenio de Rotterdam. Los oficiales de registro de plaguicidas señalaron la utilidad del Toolkit de Registro de Plaguicidas en su tarea cotidiana por cuanto integra las disciplinas e información que se requiere para efectuar una mejor evaluación de los expedientes y expresaron su interés de aplicarla. La Secretaria General de la Comunidad Andina expresó lo siguiente:  “La verdad, es un honor haber servido de instrumento para que estén aquí, hace 4 años que llegué y el tema de los plaguicidas era un problema muy grande en la CAN y ver que ahora se tiene un manual que está ad portas de entrar en vigor y además tenerlo complementado de cómo lograr un registro eficiente y seguro, me quedo satisfecha. El poder contar con FAO, con el Convenio de Rotterdam, el saber que estamos trabajando horas extras para sacar esto adelante, refleja la calidad de seres humanos que somos y lo que deseamos dejar para nuestros hijos, un planeta con futuro que pueda seguir siendo disfrutado por todas las generaciones”.

FAO, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), organized a workshop on pesticide evaluation and registration. The meeting was organized in Dubai from 14 – 18 October 2018 and brought together 16 participants from different emirates and technical backgrounds. Participants were introduced in the different modules of the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit, practiced its navigation and discussed its use in day-to-day regulatory work. Since the UAE imports most of its food, food safety aspects of imported agricultural commodities received special attention during the workshop. Establishment of maximum residue limits and methods for dietary risk assessment were discussed in detail and options to protect food safety in the UAE were reviewed.

FAO organised a regional meeting for registrars from Europe and Central Asia with the purpose to strengthen their existing regulatory capacity and promote cooperation between the countries. The workshop was held in Chisinau, Moldava, from 25 - 28 September and consisted of presentations about the work that FAO is doing in this field, a presentation about the Pesticide Registration Toolkit, presentations by individual countries about their registration systems and several group discussions to investigate the possibilities for future support and cooperation on pesticide registration and related issues. The main invitees to the meeting were representatives of registration authorities of eight countries that fall under the mandate of FAO-REU:  Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Pesticide regulators from departments of agriculture and public health in Thailand met in Bangkok for a workshop on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit. They were joined by regulators from Cambodia and Lao PDR. In total 25 technical staff discussed different aspects of pesticide registration, such as decision making, data requirements, assessment methods and risk mitigation. They were trained on the navigation and use of the Toolkit and reviewed how best to apply this tool in national registration of agricultural, domestic and public health pesticides. Specific attention was given in the workshop to highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), which included technical support for the identification and assessment of HHPs as well as development of mitigation measures to reduce risks associated with such pesticides. This workshop aimed at strengthening pesticide regulatory management capacity within Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR and enhance regional collaboration and information exchange between pesticide regulatory authorities. It was organized in a collaboration between FAO and the Swedish Chemical Agency (KEMI) and hosted by the Department of Agriculture of the Royal Thai Government.