Pesticide regulations and farm worker safety: the need to improve pesticide regulations in Viet Nam
Dung Tri Phung, Des Connell, Greg Miller, Shannon Rutherford & Cordia Chu
Volume 90, Number 6, June 2012, 468-473
Table 1. Summary of suggested needs for improving pesticide regulations in Viet Nam
| Criterion | Regulation |
Improvements needed in pesticide regulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Viet Nam | ||
| Responsible agency | EPA | MARD | Establish specific roles and active involvement of various sectors, including environmental, health, and labour sectors |
| Legislative basis | FIFRA | OPPQ | Upgrade OPPQ to a law |
| Registration | Risk–benefit evaluation | Toxicological classification; | Develop risk–benefit evaluation requirement, guidance and training administrators |
| Bio-effectiveness assessment | Develop mechanism for involvement of health and environmental sectors in pesticide registration | ||
| Require continuing reports of factual information of a pesticide from registrants | |||
| Suspension and cancellation of existing pesticide registration | New evidence of adverse effects, or cost-benefit evaluation | Add a specific clause of restriction, cancellation and suspension of an existing pesticide registration | |
| Pesticide labelling | Directions for use and appropriate information for environmental and health protection | Direction in use and adequate information for environmental and health protection | NA |
| Worker protection standard (WPS) and certification training | Applied for restricted pesticides | Add a clause of WPS and certification training requirement | |
| Develop training programmes for certification of pesticide applicators | |||
| Transport, storage and disposal of pesticides | Applied to household consumers, farmers, retailers and commercial applicators | Focus on general storage requirements for commercial registrants and retailers | Introduce regulations on individual pesticide applicators, including farmer and household consumer |
| Pesticide import and export | Comprehensive regulations on domestic pesticide use, but little regulation on exports | No specific regulation on pesticides not registered in exporting countries | Introduce specific regulations restricting importation of pesticides not registered in exporting countries |
| Require appropriate warning labels for imported pesticides | |||
EPA, Environmental Protection Agency; FIFRA, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; MARD, Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development; NA, not available; OPPQ, Ordinance on Plant Protection and Quarantine.