Dutch-Myanmar partner on the registration of pesticides

A partnership programme between the Governments of Myanmar and the Netherlands was initiated. This programme focusses on crop protection approaches and the reduction of pesticide risks. Under the umbrella of this programme, a two year project on pesticide registration started in April 2016. In the project the Plant Protection Division (PPD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) in Myanmar cooperates with Wageningen University & Research, Environmental research (Alterra).
 

At present Myanmar lacks an effective, transparent and fully operational system for pesticide registration. The project aims at improving the pesticide registration procedure such that evaluations are conducted in a standard manner and decisions are taken in a transparent way. Capacity building on key registration procedures is included in the project and registration procedures are devised taking into account the number of staff at the PPD and the absorption capacity of the PPD.
 

The project started with a kick-off meeting in Yangon on April 7th 2016. This was followed by two capacity building workshops on human health hazard and risk assessment (June 2016) and environmental hazard and risk assessment (September 2016). Recently (February 2017), a mission aiming at the embedment of the project in the bigger picture of crop protection and pesticide risk reduction in Myanmar took place. As a result, plans are made to establish a link between pesticide registration and extension services via the Pesticide Selection Tool (PST) of Wageningen Plant Research. The PST has the potential to assist farmers and sector professionals to make the right choices and to select products which actually provide the best result for the most favourable price and respecting environmental impact, the build-up of resistance and safety for the user and the consumer. Main activities in the project for the remainder of 2017 are i) scanning the present package of pesticide products registered in Myanmar to identify so-called Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHP) using FAO/WHO guidance, ii) discussing and establishing a flow chart for the pesticide registration process in Myanmar, iii) further development of registration guidance and assisting the PPD staff to apply the developed guidance. The project will be concluded by communicating the results to relevant stakeholders. The project is a first step towards the PPD effectively applying a well-functioning pesticide registration system which they co-developed. This forms together with the Pesticide Selection Tool used by sector professionals and farmers in the field, one of the key elements in the integrated approach towards crop protection and pesticide risk reduction in Myanmar.