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AgVetLink: Number 59, December 2006

BCPC International Conference and Exhibition

Plants Advisor Bruce Nalder attended the British Crop Protection Council (BCPC) International Conference in Glasgow in October. As many of you will be aware, this conference is generally recognised as one of the leading international meetings for the crop protection industry.

This year’s conference incorporated three main themes:

• global aspects of crop protection– what are the risks?

• factors affecting crop production

• global food supply–what is the problem?

Most of Bruce’s time was spent in sessions relating to risk management, import/export, and communication.

Risk management

The risk management presentations largely focused on public perceptions in relation to pesticides, pesticide use and the associated risk management employed by regulators. The impact of public perceptions and some of the factors contributing to public opinion were also discussed.

Later presentations examined the difficulties of achieving global harmonisation in terms of pesticide risk management and included a presentation looking at the reduction of pesticide risks through the use of conservation agriculture.

Import/Export

Sessions attended on import/export issues explored the advantages and disadvantages of a global market as well as touching on the challenges associated with global harmonisation of MRLs and issues associated with natural toxins in terms of risk regulation and monitoring.

Exhibition

The exhibition attached to the conference appeared to be dominated by active and generic product manufacturers, with Indian and particularly Chinese companies having a strong presence. The Chinese manufacturers alone provided nearly half of the total exhibits.

Patent infringements have tended to be a problem at the exhibition in recent years and, despite repeated warnings by organisers, this year was no different. Representatives from Bayer CropScience, Syngenta, DuPont and BASF were present to ensure compounds protected under UK patents where not being unlawfully promoted.

Most of the infringements were reported as being by first time offenders. In these cases, company representatives were served injunctions and required to remove advertising material relating to the infringements or, where appropriate (for example where it was only part of a poster or brochure), make the offending material unreadable. Three companies were repeat offenders and, as a result, had their exhibits closed.

Highlight

Although Bruce considered the whole conference to be a worthwhile experience, the highlight was the exhibition because it provided the opportunity to talk directly to active manufacturers.

For further details about the conference, contact Bruce by email (bruce.nalder@nzfsa.govt.nz).