Proceedings of the Asia regional workshop on the

Few country reports contained information on <strong>the</strong> amounts <strong>of</strong> public health and household
pesticides. It is possible that <strong>the</strong>se uses are not covered by <strong>the</strong> existing legislation and registration
which focuses primarily on agricultural pesticides. Most countries were knowledgeable about <strong>the</strong>
amounts <strong>of</strong> insecticides, fungicides and herbicides used. For more accurate and meaningful data on
volume and value, however, one would need to report <strong>the</strong> information separately for <strong>the</strong> different
chemical classes.
Selected standards
In all but one country (India), <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> highly toxic pesticides is banned or severely
restricted. About half <strong>the</strong> countries reported having services to collect and safely dispose <strong>of</strong>
containers and small quantities <strong>of</strong> left-over pesticides; details about <strong>the</strong>se services were not made
available. Also, about half <strong>the</strong> countries reported having an inventory <strong>of</strong> outdated and obsolete
products.
E. Selected Standards <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Code Industry and NGO Associations
Industry associations <strong>of</strong> pesticide manufacturers and dealers exist only in nine countries, and
ten countries reported having non-governmental organisations with an interest in pesticide related
issues. These associations could be valuable partners for monitoring Code implementation.
Conclusion and comments
The <strong>workshop</strong> questionnaire exercise raised an important question: Who should monitor
Code implementation? Monitoring is only useful if <strong>the</strong> collected information is comprehensive and
accurately reflects <strong>the</strong> situation in <strong>the</strong> country. Most
importantly, however, <strong>the</strong> proposed monitoring
should not only be seen as a required reporting
to FAO, but as an opportunity to assess <strong>the</strong>
effectiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country’s own policies on pest
and pesticide management. Therefore, policy
makers should become involved. The questionnaire
responses should be thoroughly discussed and
reflected at <strong>the</strong> country level.
The Code <strong>of</strong> Conduct is a policy document
to which each country has committed itself through
<strong>the</strong> FAO Assembly. It is now up to <strong>the</strong> countries to
determine which part <strong>of</strong> this policy needs streng<strong>the</strong>ning. For example, country pesticide policies
should treat pesticides not as production inputs, but as damage control agents. As data from India
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