9. Conclusions
9.1 General
The aim of this manual has been to raise awareness of both general principles and specific, practical issues relating to pesticide use in cocoa.
Certain matters will be country specific, some will also involve commercially sensitive information, but it is generally agreed that much needs to be done to improve general knowledge of pesticide science and actual pest management practices.
In particular, the need for accuracy cannot be over-emphasised (e.g. the use of international standards, focusing on AI and not trade names and, at the farm level, calibration, etc.).
There is much scope for collaboration within cocoa growing regions and for sharing knowledge of pest management practices.
The choices may be bewildering at times, but many pest problems are common to adjacent countries.
Throughout this manual, we have recommended the need for improved:
- choice of plant protection products
- application methods and timing of treatments
- communication of the above
Establishment of GAP is obviously not just about ensuring correct pesticide use and phasing out obsolete and problematic compounds.
There are usually reasons for existing farming methods (be they good or otherwise), and it is very important to learn why they are practiced and by whom they are influenced.
The choice of pesticides is nevertheless crucial and the lists of compounds in Appendix 3 have been reviewed on a quarterly basis.
Notes on AI lists in Appendix 3
- Trade names are not used (they often vary between countries), but several products contain mixtures of AI.
- Since residues can arise from any point in the supply chain, an AI can only be placed in ONE of the categories A, B, C or D (section 9.2).
- Compounds for inclusion continue to be reviewed, and special care should be taken with any AI that remains on the “pending” (P) list. Compounds labelled ‘M’ are subject to the 2013 moratorium in the EU due to risk of bee toxicity.
- For historical reasons, a number of compounds are recorded as being used on cocoa and have MRL values that are above the default value, yet are not on the list of substances on EC: Annex 1. It is important to appreciate that the authorisation of a pesticide on the EU market and the harmonised pesticide residue legislation (396/2005/EC, which includes MRLs for imported cocoa) are essentially two separate legal issues.
- In principle, procurement agencies and cocoa growers are encouraged to consider carefully any products containing any AI listed in Appendix 3B and they should not be developed for new markets. However, this list is a ‘mixed bag’ of compounds that include those:
- that have import tolerances in some markets but not others
- for which no company has considered it economic to prepare and submit an adequate dossier for inclusion in Annex 1 in the EU.
- AI with known issues, but tMRL have been set in the interests of cocoa production and market competition, where a case has been made for continued use of compounds in at least 1 jurisdiction.
