Strengthening capacity to meet pesticide export requirements

Findings and recommendations of an independent evaluation of STDF projects in ASEAN, Africa and Latin America

7 NOVEMBER 2019
ROOM D, 13:30 to 15:00hrs

Pesticides often cause trade concerns for tropical fruits and vegetables from developing countries. Few Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) exist for these crops, and they can differ from Codex standards or also for different trading partners. Consequently, importing countries often set limits of tolerances, which can be a big problem for developing countries when newer and safer pesticides become available on the global market, but cannot be used because of the absence of Codex MRLs.

From  2012-2017, three regional STDF projects in Africa (STDF/PG/359, led by AU-IBAR), Asia (STDF/PG/337, led by the ASEAN Secretariat) and Latin America (STDF/PG/436, led by IICA) worked to close pesticide residue data gaps and boost developing country exports. Government authorities partnered with multinational pesticide manufacturers, industry associations, farmers and international partners (including the Codex Secretariat, IR-4 / Rutgers University and the United States Department of Agriculture) to carry out coordinated and complementary pesticide residue studies.

This collaborative approach generated data to support new Codex MRLs for minor-use crops (like dragon fruit, mango, papaya and avocado) and the registration of new, improved low-risk pesticides for farmers. Building on the projects' results, the Global Minor Use Foundation has mobilized additional resources since 2015 to expand low-risk pesticide options for tropical produce. The projects' role in catalyzing public-private collaboration to develop knowledge and capacity on pesticide MRLs benefitting developing countries, was recognized in a high-level statement signed by 17 governments at the 11^th WTO Ministerial Conference in 2017.

This STDF event, on the margins of the SPS Committee meeting, will share and discuss the findings and recommendations of an independent evaluation of these projects, carried out by Dr Stuart Slorach and Ms Andrea Spear in 2019.