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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.

The General Secretariat of the Andean Community (SGCAN), submitted a request for technical assistance to FAO, within the framework of the provisions contained in Decision 804 that approved the Andean Decision for the Registration and Control of Chemical Pesticides for Agricultural Use. The Decision updated its Technical Manual and established the requirements and conditions so that the chemical equivalence methodology can be used in the pesticide registration.  FAO, responding to this request and considering that several aspects of the needs expressed by SGCAN are developed in the “FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit”, organized the Andean Regional Workshop from October 20 to 25, 2018 in Lima, Perú. Twenty-three registration officers from the four member countries participated, as well as 4 SGCAN officials, 2 international experts (Canada and Mexico for Chemical Equivalence issue), the FAO team and the secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention.  The pesticide registration officers pointed out the usefulness of the Pesticide Registration Toolkit in their daily tasks because it integrates the disciplines and information required to make a better evaluation of dossiers and expressed their interest in applying it.   For its part, the General Secretariat of the Andean Community expressed the following: “In truth, it is an honour to be here and to have for the Comunidad Andina. Four years ago I arrived and the issue of pesticides was a very big problem in the CAN and see that now there is a manual that is ready to enter into force and also have it complemented by how to achieve an efficient and safe pesticides registration. I am satisfied being able to count on FAO, and the Rotterdam Convention, to know that we are working overtime to move this forward. It reflects the quality of human beings that we are and what we want to leave for our children: a planet with a future that can continue to be enjoyed for all generations ”

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.

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.