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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).