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Agadir, Morocco, July 7, 2025 – FAO organized and facilitated a one-week regional training on the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit for a group of Arab countries sponsored by the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) of the League of the Arab States. Participants included 16 staff from national pesticide registration authorities of 13 countries, namely:  Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia and Yemen. The training workshop was opened (and closed) by officials from the Moroccan Food Safety authority, AOAD and FAO.  Participants explored the various toolkit's modules and decision-making framework related to pesticide registration, and engaged in practical exercises in evaluating scenarios and case studies. Further to reviewing key registration topics, the workshop covered the “special topic” of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), focusing on the FAO recommended approach for HHP identification, assessment, and mitigation of these especially harmful chemicals. This is important for FAO given the on-going momentum on HHPs with the formation of a HHP Global Alliance to be led by FAO under the Global Framework on Chemicals.  In conclusion, participants welcomed this training and stressed the need for more regional cooperation among the Arab countries on pesticide-related issues. The Arab Gulf countries have already a scheme in place, but a wider network would be very relevant. They encouraged FAO and AOAD to organize more workshops to enable national teams of pesticide registration staff to be further trained.