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Global Summit II Barcelona 25-27th May 2010
BASF- Pest Solutions in conjunction with the NPMA sponsored the second global summit for the Pest Management Industry that was held on the 25th - 27th May 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. As described in the invitation ‘ the purpose of this executive – level event was to bring together selected leaders from around the world to share insights, thoughts and visions on current practices and emerging trends, as well as strategize about the future of the industry.
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The event drew people from all over the globe who are part of the pest management community, affording the opportunity to get insight from, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil , Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the organizers, the USA. Without a doubt the largest international gathering of Pest Management Professionals assemble for a common purpose in the history of our industry and most certainly the Pest Management industry in South Africa would have been the poorer had we not been represented there.
We examined how globalization and urbanization has had an effect on public health threats and the impact of climate change on pest- borne diseases. The message was clear that despite Man’s best efforts there has been resurgence of vector-borne diseases and because of the escalation of resistance the challenge to the pest control community is greater. One of the alarming statistics shared was that at last count of malaria carrying mosquito’s species there are now fifty one (51) different Anopheles spp, twenty (20) different Culex spp, and nineteen (19) different Aedes spp that are resistant to pyrethroids and or other insecticides. At the same time in surveys conducted it has been found that there is an increase in the amount of mosquito’s found in airports around the world. The risk posed by climate change in this scenario is that mosquito’s can survive and thrive in areas where previously they could not. These insights were shared by Professor Qiyong Liu, of the National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, China
Bedbugs have also been found to be on an increase globally and as pointed out by Professor Michael Potter there are resistant species of Bedbugs and these are on the rise in the USA. There is a desperate need for new compounds that are effective and safe to use to control these. One wonders if after the FIFA 2010 has been concluded that South Africa might be left with some very unwelcome guests indeed. The consensus was that where as in the past, bedbug treatments were relatively easy and generated good profits, today they require a higher level of skill, because of the necessity to perform a thorough inspection first, this almost certainly requires a minimum of two people to enable the moving of heavy furniture and pose significant health threats to the PCO on site. Are we possibly as an industry in South Africa guilty of undervaluing this and other services that we render?
As a result of on the one hand the rising cost of registration of a new pesticide material due to more stringent legislative requirements internationally and on the other the diminishing volumes of products being applied to an IPM approach and a general resistance by the public to the application of pesticides, chemical manufacturers need to be incentivized to invest the huge sums to bring new products to market where the possibility exists that after the patent expires that they have seen no real return on the investment, before the generics manufacturers do what they do best making ‘knock off’ without having invested a cent in development and therefore the sustainability of the pest management industry. Yet, there is a desperate need for new and advanced tools that offer safer and more effective alternatives to what is currently available in our pest control arsenal. The Global Harmonization of Public Health Pesticides, which aims with a single registration process to register products simultaneously in all countries that are participants, was started. This process shares the administrative burden internationally and therefore reduces costs to the various registration authorities, as well as for the company that has submitted the registration and reduces costly time delays allowing for simultaneous registration in all participant countries, giving the registrant the best opportunity to benefit from the product during the remaining period of patent. From our perspective it also means that materials that are approved for use in one country are available to be used in developing countries also which is essential for export and food safety purposes. Needless to say that South Africa is at this point not a participant but SAPCA has been mandated by Lois Rossi the Director Registration for the EPA to invite the Department of Agriculture to also join the growing list of participant countries. Hopefully, the DOA which is undoubtedly struggling to cope with growing demand for registrations etc, will capitalise on this opportunity. One of the first new active that has been registered under this system is chlorantraniprizole and a few others have followed since, the idea would be to extend this process to environmental health also, especially in view of growing resistance.
Some of the challenges that the Pest Management Industry has in common on a global scale are, price pressure that can strip the value from the industry, a local example of this is the property inspection industry that has seen a price increase from R285.00 (R250.00 COD) charged in 1995 to a an average price of R450.00 in 2010, that is a 57% increase over 15years, a staggering 3,8% per annum, whilst inflation is running at between 8-10% per annum. Little wonder then that service delivery has suffered since it is not economically viable to allocate sufficient time for a thorough inspection to be done.
The industry has an urgent need to change the public perception of our industry, in these areas we must ensure as individuals and as association members that we are not engaging in practices that can harm the environment and add fuel to the green revolutions fire. The public is opinion is driven by emotion so pesticides are frowned on, what effective alternatives are available? In general it was agreed upon that as an industry we need to be able to offer a ‘green’ service option to our clients. We discussed at length a ‘global green’ standard that we could offer to our clients. As a global industry we have an URGENT need to define what ‘green’ means to our industry which is firmly rooted in IPM (Integrated Pest Management) but requires also a higher level of professionalism and commitment from the industry, education of the public. This can only be accomplished if we can harmonise the industry to support a single globally acceptable standard protocol for green, this standard would need to be reviewed from time to time to keep pace with developments of new materials and pest management techniques. Remember not to miss Pest Biz 2010 in Bloemfontein because we will launch a ‘global green’ certification program that members will want to participate in.
In the absence of a definition from the within the industry, we will be forced to fit the mould that others have set up for us, as in the case of food safety. We all have our hands full trying to comply with five or six different food safety standards that have set by people with an expectation of what is required but with no technical background as to the practical implementation of these plans. This problem is universal, along with the fact that within the parameters set, there is inconsistency from the auditors auditing on the same standard across all auditing bodies. Dereck Tremble of AIB which was established in 1919 led a discussion on the development of GMP (good manufacturing Process) audits and pest control as a PRP (pre- requisite program) for HACCP implementation and food safety.
Global consensus was that we are in desperate need of a single food safety standard that is accepted by all role players, auditors, regulators and pest management professionals alike. Once such a standard is put in place, we will need to educate our staff in its implementation and the auditors in a correct interpretation of this standard. Having consistent documentation and improving professional competence were identified as key factors to the success because an excellent understanding of the standard by both PMP and Auditors will be required to allow for flexibility in the implementation of the standard in the unique situation that are encountered in various workplace environments.
The good news is that such a single standard is available as an industry we will need to market this to role players in South Africa. SAPCA is in consultation with several of these as well as government to have this standard accepted, possibly with a few minor changes. This should go a long way to making your life as a PMP a lot easier, but it is going to take effort from each of us to firstly educate our own staff and secondly to promote this standard to all food safety auditors.
Have there been benefits in SAPCA participation in Global Summit II? Judge for yourself, but at least it ensures that the Pest Management Industry in South Africa through SAPCA are part of the ‘new frontier’ in pest management and are in harmony with the global industry.
Could SAPCA afford not to participate? I, for one, believe that South Africa would be the poorer should we have been absent from this past summit and indeed other such international events in future.
The searching question posed to those present was whether in the absence of the generous BASF sponsorship, would we, have attended? Also, would a SAPCA representative attend a future event without a sponsor? Collectively, as members we need to realise that in order to offer real membership benefits along with international representation, we will need to substantially increase our individual contributions in the future. This will allow SAPCA to offer greater value to its members and in turn empower members to add more value to the services provided to clients, at a premium.
An assignment that we were given to take to our respective countries was to think of a catchy slogan that is descriptive and simple that can be applied to our ‘green’ program that embodies what the Pest Management Industry globally stands for.
MEnslin
SAPCA – President
PS. We have only 30 days to table our suggestions.
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