Outcome of the International Workshop on the Safe Use of Pesticides and Harmonization of Legislation for Food Safety, 25-27 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The International Workshop on the Safe Use of Pesticides in Cocoa and Harmonized Legislation for Food Safety was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 25-27 January, 2011 with generous sponsorship provided by the Malaysian Cocoa Board, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and Innovation of the Netherlands and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative.

The Workshop was jointly organized by the ICCO and the Malaysian Cocoa Board. The overall objective of the Workshop was to promote the safe use of pesticides throughout the cocoa value chain and to enhance the process of harmonization of legislation and regulations on pesticide residues in cocoa and related products, including standardization of analytical methods on pesticide residues.

The International Workshop brought together more than 200 participants from 18 countries spanning the five continents of the world. They included representatives from cocoa producers, traders, exporters, processors, chocolate manufacturers, chemical manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, governmental and non-governmental organizations, research institutions and universities. The workshop was conducted over three days with 15 presentations in four focus areas, each followed by a Question and Answer session and by panel discussions. The four focus areas were: legislation for food safety and analytical methods; the safe use of pesticides; alternatives to pesticides; and perspectives on pesticide legislation from key stakeholders. On the final day, following active deliberations between the audience and the prominent experts serving on the Panel, the Workshop adopted a list of final recommendations.

Please see the attached PDF document for further details.

Presentations