Review Of The Pesticide Registration Regulations, 2021 & Proposed Amendment Of The National Fertilizer Quality Control Act 2019 (To Include Agrochemicals and Pesticides)
Article 7.5 of the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management developed by WHO and FAO, advice countries that the – “Prohibition of the importation, distribution, sale and purchase of highly hazardous pesticides may be considered if, based on risk assessment, risk mitigation measures or good marketing practices are insufficient to ensure that the product can be handled without unacceptable risk to humans and the environment”. Already over 50% of registered pesticides in Nigeria are in the categories of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs); 80% of the most common pesticide brands used by smallholder farmers are HHPS. Worst so, most of these pesticide active ingredients are banned or phased out in Europe and USA due to their adverse impact on human
health, the environment and high toxicity to aquatic life, bees and insufficient data to uphold the principle of preventing harm. While the importance of pesticides in the agricultural sector is known globally, the reality remains that the safe use of HHPs in Nigeria today, and in the near future is unrealistic. The increasing number of pesticide hazards in the country and the continuous rejection of our food export evidence this. This is further collaborated by the absence of comprehensive pesticide regulations and dedicated people-centred pesticide legislation/law in Nigeria.
