Regional Training of Facilitators on FAO Code Monitoring by Pesticides Action Network Asia and Pacific (PAN AP)

From September 14 to 19, 2011, Pesticides Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) organized a regional training of Facilitators on FAO Code Monitoring and Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Incident Reporting in Penang, Malaysia. The event is organized on an annual basis with the goal of building capacity for its members.  

Presentation in discussion session 

The training was attended by representatives from PAN AP’s members from China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and three experts from Japan, China and India. Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD), Research Centre for Gender Family and Environment in Development (CGFED) and An Giang University are Vietnam’s representatives in the training course. Participants were equipped with elementary knowledge about pesticides, basic articles of FAO code on the Government and industry’s responsibilities regardless pesticides management, testing, labeling, packaging, storage and disposal and procedure on severely hazardous pesticides formulation under Rotterdam Convention. Representatives from different countries had a good opportunity to discuss and work in groups in order to share experiences on pesticides use situation at community level in their country.

In the final day of the workshop, participants collaboratively worked together to work out the regional plan on FAO code monitoring which highlights nations’ priorities with the ultimate goal of ensuring food security and reducing adverse impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health.

At the end of the training course, Sarojeni Renggam, Executive Director of PAN AP highly appreciated the success of the workshop and remarked “We have had enjoyable learning hours and gained useful knowledge over the past five days. I do hope that the knowledge will be instrumental to our members in advocating the Government to closely monitor FAO code and raising community’s awareness on adverse impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health.”

-SRD-