A review of the global pesticide legislation and the scale of challenge in reaching the global harmonization of food safety standards

Abstract

Pesticide use is important in agriculture to protect crops and improve productivity. However, pesticides have the potential to cause adverse human health or environmental effects, depending on exposure levels. This review examines existing pesticide legislation worldwide, focusing on the level of harmonization and impacts of differing legislation on food safety and trade. Pesticide legislation varies greatly worldwide, because countries have different requirements, guidelines, and legal limits for plant protection. Developed nations have more stringent regulations than developing countries, which lack the resources and expertise to adequately implement and enforce legislation. Global differences in pesticide legislation act as a technical barrier to trade. International parties such as the European Union (EU), Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have attempted to harmonize pesticide legislation by providing maximum residue limits (MRLs), but globally these limits remain variable. Globally harmonized pesticide standards would serve to increase productivity, profits, and trade and also enhance the ability to protect public health and the environment.

Pesticide use practices among smallholder vegetable farmers in Ethiopian Central Rift Valley

“…Other parts of sub-Saharan Africa have similar problems with the widespread use of highly toxic and illegal pesticides (Ecobichon 2001;Williamson et al 2008;Handford et al 2015). Like in many African countries, also in Ethiopia, different studies conducted on knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) among smallholders (Mekonnen and Agonafir 2002;Amera and Abate 2008;Mengistie et al 2014;Damte and Tabor 2015) have shown that farmers have low knowledge, attitude and perception on pesticides use.…”

Rapid rise in toxic load for bees revealed by analysis of pesticide use in Great Britain

“…In Europe, the regulatory system for pesticides is widely regarded as the most rigorous in 36 the world, with a complex system in place to review the safety of new plant protection products 37 and re-evaluate their safety at intervals (Handford et al 2015). Although pesticides are known to 38 have wrought considerable environmental damage in the past, as was famously exposed by Rachel .…”

Environmental governance of pesticides in Ethiopian vegetable and cut flower production

“…Pesticides are often freely available on the market in developing countries or smuggled in for use or sale. In developing countries, as much as 30% of the pesticides do not meet internationally recognized safety standards (WHO, 2009;Ecobichon, 2001;PAN Germany, 2011Handford et al, 2015). Some Western nations still export chemicals that are banned or restricted in their own markets, although this is becoming less common than it was in the past.…”

“…the environment provide also a strong incentive for international commitment to achieve an effective and comprehensive pesticide governance system (Reynold, 1997;Rojas, 2012;Handford et al, 2015). Ethiopia has therefore signed and ratified different international The Stockholm Convention is far more influential through its immediate impact on trade than the Rotterdam Convention, given that the latter's focus is on informing about, rather than on banning, a chemical (Jansen & Dubois, 2014).…”

“…Other parts of Africa have shown similar problems with poorly implemented pesticide legislation, leading to widespread use of highly toxic and illegal pesticides (Ecobichon, 2001;Williamson et al, 2008;Handford et al, 2015). Also Ethiopia is confronted with a number of problems associated with unsafe handling of pesticide distribution and use.…”