Pesticides are an important group of chemicals that need careful management.

 

This is the fourth version of the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management that FAO’s governing bodies have approved since 1985. It provides a framework that guides government regulators, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders on best practice in managing pesticides throughout their lifecycle. Its overall structure remains unchanged and covers every aspect of pesticide management from production to disposal. This version, approved by the 38th FAO Conference in June 2013, incorporates public health pesticides and vector control to broaden the scope of the Code of Conduct beyond agricultural pesticides. It gives greater attention to health and environmental aspects of pesticides, updates a number of definitions and terms and aligns guidance in several technical areas with developments in international chemicals management. The new Code comes at a time when greater attention is being focused on increasing food production while conserving and enhancing the natural resources on which that production depends. Healthy ecosystems produce more, prevent or maintain pests and diseases at acceptable levels and are more resilient to shocks. The new strategic framework for FAO has been reoriented to support sustainable agricultural production as one of its strategic objectives. This new Code is an integral component of this objective. In the area of pest and disease management this means using Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which has successfully reduced pesticide use and improved yields, food quality and incomes for millions of farmers. Providing farmers with access to local supplies of well adapted and good quality seeds and planting material helps to prevent the spread of pests and diseases. Protecting soils and attending to nutrient and water availability to crops produces healthier plants that are more resilient to pest and disease attacks. Such holistic approaches, as embodied in the FAO publication Save and Grow1, help to reduce reliance on pesticides and other external inputs with ensuing economic, health and environmental benefits for farmers and consumers. The International Code of Conduct onPesticide Management is a voluntary framework that has been endorsed by the FAO Members, and supported by key pesticide industry associations and civil society organizations. It complements legally binding instruments such as the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides inInternational Trade, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants andthe Basel Convention on the Control ofTransboundary Movements of HazardousWastes and their Disposal, and voluntarymechanisms such as the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). Pesticides are an important group of chemicals that need careful management. I encourage all those who have dealings with pest management and pesticides to use this document as a guiding reference in designing their policies, legislative texts and technical approaches. Our partnership with WHO and UNEP and our close collaboration with the private sector and civil society further strengthen the relevance and broad endorsement of work in this area. I hope that through effective implementation of this new International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management we can achieve significant reduction of risks to health and the environment from pesticides, while improving the productivity, sustainability and livelihoods of farmers everywhere. 

José Graziano da Silva Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.