Vol. 27 No. 4
July-August 2005

Crop Protection Chemistry in Latin America

by Elizabeth Carazo

More than 250 scientists, government regulators, and industry leaders representing 28 countries gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica from 14–17 February 2005 to participate in the IUPAC-UCR-MAG International Workshop on Crop Protection Chemistry in Latin America. The theme of the workshop was “Harmonized Approaches for Environmental Assessment and Regulation,” and a key objective was to encourage exchange of the latest information regarding harmonized approaches for scientific and regulatory evaluation of pesticides in countries throughout Latin America.

The workshop was organized by the Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental of the University of Costa Rica and the State Phytosanitary Service of the Costa Rica Ministry of Agriculture. Sponsors included CropLife Latin America and the local Costa Rica industry association, Cámara Nacional de Insumos Agropecuarios. Prof. Elizabeth Carazo of the University of Costa Rica led the workshop, and IUPAC contributions were assisted and coordinated by Dr. Ken Racke of the Division of Chemistry and the Environment (DCE).

The workshop was organized as part of an IUPAC project of the same title, for which the key objectives are to i) identify and prioritize the main regional issues related to crop protection chemistry and potential environmental impacts in Latin America; ii) facilitate the exchange of information and ideas regarding harmonized approaches for scientific evaluation and regulation of crop protection chemistry; and iii) develop recommendations for advancing crop protection chemistry in Latin America.

The three-day scientific program for the workshop, which included 28 invited lectures and an equal number of posters, was organized around three priority topics related to crop protection chemistry. These included regulatory harmonization, environmental assessment, and residues and human exposure. The program featured 13 lecturers from the IUPAC DCE Subcommittee on Crop Protection Chemistry, who highlighted the findings and recommendations of a number of recently concluded and ongoing IUPAC projects. The workshop attracted a significant amount of media attention and, in addition to articles in leading Costa Rican newspapers, the workshop was covered by the primary local television networks. Several of the media reports featured interviews with invited workshop lecturers.

The IUPAC workshop in Costa Rica was the sixth in a developing series of such chemistry-related, crop-protection workshops organized by the DCE since 1988. Past workshops have been held in Brazil, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The papers from the Costa Rica workshop proceedings are available at the link below.

Although the workshop was a great success in terms of participation and the level of scientific information exchange involved, it only represented the second of three objectives for the “Crop Protection Chemistry in Latin America” IUPAC project (# 2003-013-1-600). The project also aims to develop recommendations for future advancement of crop protection chemistry in Latin America. Although the results of the workshop are still being evaluated, three preliminary areas of emphasis and future action have so far been proposed: pesticide product specifications, ecological risk assessment, and education.

Elizabeth Carazo <[email protected]>, a professor at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose and director of the Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, was chair of the local organizing committee. She is project leader for the corresponding IUPAC project <www.iupac.org/projects/2003/2003-013-1-600.html>.

www.iupac.org/symposia/2005/crop-protection-chemistry