Illegal pesticides threaten development, destroy crops and generate economic losses. CropLife Latin America, along with its network of national associations in Latin America, works with authorities, companies and farmers to make visible this issue and fight it in every country. These are some of the actions against illegal trade during 2018.
Workshop: How to fight illegal trade of pesticides in Mercosur?
Training on border control measures, analysis of evidence and best practices to combat the illegal trade of pesticides, were central points of the agenda of this workshop addressed to authorities of MERCOSUR countries; it was organized by the US Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO. Authorities from customs, police, agriculture, and environmental agencies from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil participated, as well as experts from the US Environmental Agency and Department of Justice. The event took place in April in Iguazu Falls, Brazil.
Illegal trade in the sight of the world
The fight against counterfeiting, piracy and smuggling has gained importance every year at the global level. With a varied agenda of regional events, the subject was analyzed from different perspectives. CropLife Latin America was present at several of them in order to establish synergies with organizations that can support the fight against the illegal trade of pesticides in Latin America. CropLife was present at:
- III Seminar on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, organized by the International Trademark Association, INTA. Uruguay, April 2018.
- II Latin American Summit for the Protection of Trademarks, of the Coalition against counterfeiting, IACC. Orlando, USA, October, 2018.
- Launch of the illicit trade index for Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica in events organized by The Economist magazine in the second half of 2018.
Finalists in Agrow Awards
The campaign SAY NO TO ILLEGAL PESTICIDES was selected in the category of best communication program for the Agrow awards. This campaign began three years ago with the aim of raising awareness and preventing the negative effects of illegal trade of pesticides in Latin America. Today, the campaign has expanded because of the initiatives promoted by the network of associations. In Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile efforts are being made to expose the consequences of the use or commercialization of illegal crop protection products.
Learn to identify an illegal pesticide
With an explanatory video about the main characteristics that identify an illegal product, the Mexican Association for Crop Protection, Science and Technology, PROCCyT, joined the national initiatives in the fight against the illegal trade of pesticides. The video was produced in Náhuatl and in Spanish, adapted by CAFYF in Paraguay, by Sindiveg in Brazil and by CropLife Latin America for the entire region. It is available in YouTube, where it had more than 16,000 views in Náhuatl, 24,000 in Spanish and 22,000 in Portuguese.
