Dr Kenmore reported that Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was a crucial component which related to the concern on pesticide abuse under the International Code of Conduct. He then presented several examples where high pest levels and lower crop production were apparently associated with high pesticide usage. He expressed confidence that the FAO Council's decision to authorize the strategic plan to ban highly toxic pesticides could be viewed as the initiation to a much larger plan to handle environmental issues.
The Session agreed that more data should be made available before coming to the conclusion on the absolute correlation between pesticide usage and crop production/pest levels. Information on actual volume of use, increased pesticide unit costs should also be taken into account. There was also a suggestion that studies be made to determine or to find suitable pesticides which took into account environmental damage. The Session agreed to a need to address the quantitative aspect, as well as the qualitative aspect of pesticide usage.
The Session agreed that the use of methyl bromide for fumigation treatment in plant quarantine was a concern. There would be a need to find alternatives. Fumigation treatment involving the recycling of the fumigant may be considered by some of the users.
