“About 25 different products, from pyrethroids to organophosphates, are being exported to South Africa,” said AVCASA consultant Dr Gerhard Verdoorn. He said there are already one or two illegal products on the market, which endanger food safety and environmental health as they haven’t been subjected to regulatory processes.Companies from these countries illegally advertised unregistered pesticides at two recent agricultural expos.
“It appears as if the authorities responsible for the regulation of agricultural and stock remedies are unaware of these incidents and therefore do not effect law enforcement,” said Dr Verdoon. AVCASA called on the agriculture department to confiscate such products and prosecute perpetrators, and the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure such products don’t enter South Africa. But Jonathan Mudzunga, the Registrar of Act No. 36 governing pesticide legislation, said he was “not aware” of that information.
“If AVCASA has that information I suppose they will have approached our office. If they have the marketing material we can intervene.” He said they were not aware of specific information about Pakistani or Chinese products, and said most products AVCASA members use come from Asia. Mudzunga said his department attends agricultural shows to check products aren’t being illegally marketed, and even speaks to organisers beforehand.
“Once we are aware of illegal products, we liaise with other enforcement agencies. Only about 20% of the products get inspected at the border so there may be products that slip into the country. Then we rely on our enforcement agencies and the public to assist us with information so we can make sure it’s not distributed.”Dr Verdoon said it was simple for farmers to identify unregistered pesticides.
“Every product that is registered has an ‘L’ number with four digits behind it. If it doesn’t it is definitely not registered.” But he warned that the labels of registered products might be duplicated, and said farmers should be suspicious if a label is in a foreign language, or not offered via a known agrochemical company.He fears some farmers will buy illegal products because they tend to be cheaper. “But we’ve found in many cases that what is in the formulation isn’t what it says on the label,” he warned.
For help identifying a product, call Dr Gerhard Verdoorn on 082 446 8946.
