WORKING MEETING WITH THE LEBANESE FOCAL

POINT AND IDENTIFICATION OF A NEW THEMATIC

A meeting was held, between the experts of the ENPARD Support Programme in Lebanon, the Lebanese focal point, Hanadi JAAFAR, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, on May 24th 2017 in Beirut. The main objectives of the meeting were to identify a new theme, in agreement with the priorities of the newly appointed Minster of Agriculture, establish a methodology and a calendar of activities for the upcoming months.

It was finally decided to concentrate the activities and discussions on the use and management of pesticides in Lebanon and the presence of residues in Lebanese agricultural products.

The Ministry of Agriculture highlighted the current situation of agricultural production marked by the significant presence of pesticide residues in some Lebanese agricultural products. Also, this theme was clearly prioritised in the agricultural strategy 2015-2019 of the Ministry. In addition to the un-adapted use of pesticides by some farmers which poses a direct threat to the sanitary health of producers and Lebanese consumers.

In parallel, farmers’ concern is increasing facing the difficulties of exporting Lebanese agricultural products to European market due to the non-compliance with standards and regulations concerning the presence of pesticide residues. The situation extends to the Gulf Countries, where they are tending to follow the European model and starting to implement strict regulations on the products entering their territory. Also, Lebanese consumers are becoming more aware of the sanitary quality of their local products.

At the end of this study, two outputs on the use and management of pesticides will be established on the designated value chain:

A strategic document gathering a range of recommendations to support Lebanon’s agriculture policy and its instruments on controlled, rational and efficient pesticide use. Moreover, it will present the steps to implement and the possible solutions to alleviate the identified challenges. This document will help in supporting the Ministry of Agriculture in its reflection on the measures and tools to be implemented to fight against the presence of pesticide residues in agricultural production;

And the second document will aim to identify and map projects to fight against the presence of pesticide residues in the selected value chain that may be submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture to donors. The projects funded would serve as a test for the implementation of a national strategy.

Many issues and sub-themes were discussed during the meeting to be explored and refined throughout the duration of the study:

1. Assessment of the use and purchase of pesticides:

Who imports pesticides and how is the market organised and structured? How and by whom are the pesticides sold and distributed?
What is the role of the Ministry of Agriculture in this system and its organisation? How does the Ministry control the purchase and use of pesticides? And how could this control be improved?

2. Traceability:

How is the traceability system organised in Lebanon?
How could this system be improved?

3. Collection of data and their use:

What is the current information collected on the organisation of the pesticide market and their use by farmers?
How could this information be exploited by the Lebanese advisory and extension system?

4. Legislation:

What are the current decrees in Lebanon on the use of pesticides?
To what extent are these decrees applied on the field? Is there a follow up system?
Are these legal frameworks adapted to the evolution of the norms imposed by the targeted countries and national consumers?

Under the framework of the sub-regional activities organised with the Egyptian partners, a study tour has been considered. The objective of this study will be to discover the systems established by other Mediterranean partner countries, particularly Morocco and Tunisia, on their control methods in the use and management of pesticides. In addition to enriching and strengthening the dialogue and exchange of expertise between the partner countries of the ENPARD South initiative at the sub regional and regional levels.

The upcoming mission is scheduled to be held in July 2017 to officially launch the activities and to present the identified expert to the Lebanese partners in addition to validating the calendar of activities for the upcoming months.

In parallel to the work established by the expert, several working ateliers and a national workshop will be organised, in which different stakeholders implicated in the pesticide sector will be invited to attend and to reinforce the work achieved by the expert.

The objectives of these different meetings will be: