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 to implement FAOs Strategic Objectives, 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 would 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 involving trainers from Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, China, Germany, Mozambique, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Sweden and Zimbabwe to roll out the Toolkit in various 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])