- PDF Version (121K) - Print Friendly - Help

AgVetLink December 2004

OECD meeting

ACVM Programme Manager (Toxicology and Residues) John Reeve has just returned from the 16th OECD Working Group on Pesticides, Registration Steering Group, and Risk Reduction Steering Group meetings in Paris. Generally the meetings were uneventful, but the strong theme of work sharing and subsequent improvements in times taken for consideration of applications for registration continue. There is to be a workshop in Washington DC for assessors to familiarise themselves with the way in which other countries carry out their assessments, and the use of electronic tools to assist in the assessment processes.

One item to note is that New Zealand was accepted to host back-to-back Risk Reduction Steering Group and Registration Steering Group meetings in late November 2005. This will involve a seminar relating to the use of new application technology and related topics in pesticide risk reduction, as well as the formal meetings of the two Groups. The meetings will bring an increased awareness in this part of the world of the valuable work that is going on in the OECD relating to pesticides and, in particular, efforts to harmonise registration systems and assessments. It should also mean a reduced cost of attendance for New Zealand delegates.