LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Pesticides Control Board (PCB) is moving to review licences for the importation and distribution of Aluminium Phosphide following revelations that the highly hazardous pesticide is being sold to unauthorised users and, in some cases, broken down and sold as single tablets.
The move marks the regulator’s most significant intervention yet into the control of the chemical, with PCB registrar James Kaphale saying the licensing system must be scrutinised to establish how the pesticide is escaping the controls designed to restrict its access.
“We cannot just let things slide. We are reviewing the licences and the whole distribution arrangement to establish where the gaps are and how Aluminium Phosphide is getting into the hands of unauthorised people,” Kaphale said in an interview Friday.
Kaphale said the review would cover the licensing and distribution arrangements surrounding the chemical, adding that the PCB would announce new measures shortly.
“We are looking at the licensing arrangements very seriously. We cannot allow a highly hazardous pesticide to be moving into the hands of people who are not authorised or trained to handle it,” he said.
“We will be announcing new measures shortly,” Kaphale added.
The review follows meetings between the PCB and key players in the Aluminium Phosphide supply chain, including CropLife Malawi and the Agro-Dealers Association.
Minutes of a September 3 meeting with CropLife Malawi show that the PCB raised what it described as “grave concern” over the increasing abuse and misuse of Aluminium Phosphide.
The regulator told the meeting that some agro-dealers were selling the pesticide to unauthorised users and were “decanting the product and selling it in single tablet”.
The PCB said the practice contravenes regulatory requirements and significantly increases the risk of misuse and accidental poisoning.
The September 3 meeting subsequently proposed tighter licensing of importers and distributors, stronger inspections, restrictions on unlicensed and untrained agro-dealers buying the chemical and improved training and certification.
The PCB then met the Agro-Dealers Association on September 10, where similar concerns were raised and stakeholders again supported stronger licensing, tighter monitoring and stricter control of access to Aluminium Phosphide.
The licence review is expected to establish whether companies and individuals involved in importing, distributing, selling and using the chemical are properly licensed and trained.
Aluminium Phosphide releases highly poisonous phosphine gas when exposed to moisture and can cause severe poisoning, breathing difficulties, dangerously low blood pressure, heart problems, shock, organ damage and death.
Under Section 11(1) of the Pesticides Act, the PCB is mandated to regulate pesticides, including their importation, distribution, sale, storage and use.
The regulator is now using that mandate to revisit the licensing arrangements governing one of Malawi’s most hazardous pesticides.
“We have to know exactly who is importing, who is distributing, who is selling and who is using these products,” Kaphale said.
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