International news in brief – July/August 2014

• EU & USA: NPMA & CEPA announce joint initiative

The Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA) and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and are partnering to offer the first Global Summit of Pest Management Services for Public Health and Food Safety which will be held 3-5 June 2015 at the Juan-les-Pins Conference Centre in Antibes Juan-les-Pins, on the French Riviera. Designed to be a biannual forum, alternating between Europe and the U.S., the Summit will look at pest management services in terms of the needs of the food, food service, retail, hospitality and other service business sectors.

“The trend towards increased globalization of the pest management industry is most pronounced in the food and other commercial sectors,” stated NPMA CEO Bob Rosenberg. “We are proud of this historic partnership between the US and European industry associations to provide the leadership to meet these challenges and grow the industry.”

“Our goal with this conference is to address issues that are on tomorrow’s agenda for the pest management industry and evaluate, together with clients, the legislator and other relevant stakeholders which action steps are required to prepare for and respond to our vision of the future” said CEPA Chairman Bertrand Montmoreau.
More details about the event will be available in the coming weeks. Visit www.cepa-europe.org and/or npmapestworld.org

• Australia: Pesticides reforms off the table

The federal government has axed reforms to agricultural pesticides that were due to take effect in July. Legislation removing a scheme that would have introduced the systematic review of agricultural pesticides has passed federal parliament with bipartisan support. The scheme would have seen of dozens of pesticides, that have never been assessed to ensure they are safe, according to the most recent regulatory and scientific standards, come under review. The scheme was due to commence in July.

More than 7000 consumers signed a petition demanding that the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, keep the re-approval and re-registration scheme intact. Supporters also contacted their local members and senators to raise their concerns. Despite these efforts, the scheme will now be abandoned.

While pesticides play an important role in Australia’s food supply, the reregistration scheme would have provided consumers with the assurance that hazardous products which have not been properly assessed would be removed from use in food production.
Read more at http://bit.ly/1oQjdgM

• India: Pest control strikes spark rise in Dengue fever

In July, more than 3,500 mosquito breeding checkers (MBCs) of the three municipal corporations in the capital Delhi went on strike to demand unpaid dues and enrolment as regular employees.

Sixteen dengue cases had already been reported from areas under the jurisdiction of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation. The MBCs, under contract with the three civic bodies, have alleged that the corporations are yet to settle the pending dues and enrol them as regular employees even after the Lieutenant-Governor’s directive.

According to a circular issued from the L-G’s office, workers who have been under contract with the corporation for more than 17 years were to be regularized. They are to get a monthly salary of Rs 15,790 as against their contractual payment of Rs 7,350 per month. According to civic sources, many of the government hospitals were yet to prepare themselves to face the cases of mosquito-borne diseases.

Last year, there were more than 5,500 dengue cases reported in Delhi and the National Capital Region. According to a recent report issued by the civic bodies, dengue cases have drastically risen in the last three years. But the civic bodies maintained that the situation was under control.
Read more at http://goo.gl/ppK45c.

• UK: Pesticides in the UK: Pesticides Forum Annual Report 2013

The 2013 report on the impacts and sustainable use of pesticides reveals that overall pesticides are being used in a more sustainable fashion. Improvements are being made to the arrangements for training users and distributors and there is increasing awareness of the need to use an appropriate range of pest management techniques in an integrated fashion, and the benefits from doing so.

Pesticide users, distributers and advisors are engaging with continuing professional development in increasing numbers and a significant proportion of application equipment continues to be tested on an annual basis. There is a need to reduce the number of water bodies which contain residues of pesticides to meet the requirements of water quality legislation. The levels which are found, do not pose a threat to human health or the wider well being of the environment.

The report suggests that pesticide use could be having an indirect impact on biodiversity. However, the extent of this impact and the way pesticide use interacts with other land-management practices in affecting biodiversity is not clear. Whilst progress has been made in improving practice in the nonagricultural sectors, more needs to be done. This report summarises key findings from recent Government studies into practices within the amateur and amenity sectors; it is clear that those who use pesticides in these sectors require additional guidance, particularly on handling, storage and disposal practice.
Visit http://goo.gl/vpoQqk.

Published in International Pest Control – July/August 2014 issue

Category: International Pest News, news in brief