FAO Dorin Goian
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has joined the initiative by Interpol and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to launch a large-scale anti-counterfeit pesticide campaign in Ukraine.
According to various estimates, the share of counterfeit products in the global market of pesticides totals about 15%, while in Ukraine it is up to 25%. This type of criminal business is in TOP-10 in terms of profitability, according to a report published by FAO.
Interpol, the USPTO, FAO and major plant protection products manufacturers gathered for a working meeting on Wednesday to assess the current situation in Ukraine, come up with effective countermeasures against counterfeit goods, and exchange international experience.
According to the OSCE, the methodology of tackling counterfeit and smuggled pesticides includes prevention, preparation, and response to the already committed crimes. In turn, FAO sees counteraction as a set of measures to determine the routes of counterfeit imports to the country, detect illegal production capacities (labs) inside the country, track sales chains, remove illegal pesticides from circulation, and utilize seized stocks.
During the meeting, main ways for the emergence of counterfeit products in domestic markets were analyzed as well as the scale of local production.
"Fighting counterfeit pesticides without an impact on demand on the part pf consumers is meaningless. Therefore, one of the necessary countermeasures is raising awareness among agricultural producers," explains Mykhailo Malkov, FAO Development Coordinator in Ukraine.
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The expert also emphasized the crisis caused by the production of counterfeit goods on the local market. According to law enforcers, the most common cases include fake products being manufactured from legally imported active ingredients, counterfeit containers being produced, and empty containers – reused. Banned pesticides that have been withdrawn from the market are returned, and expired products – re-packaged.
The parties unanimously agreed that the only way to deal with seized counterfeit or unusable pesticides is to treat them as hazardous waste.
It should be recalled that in accordance with the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management (FAO), it is the governments of the countries who are to ensure an environmentally sound way of treating and disposing of hazardous pesticide residues which is in line with national and regional norms, relevant international standards and multinational environmental instruments, in particular the Basel Convention.