Agrochemicals Unit
Food safety and quality have become increasingly important world-wide in recent years, not only in terms of protecting the health of the consumer, but also to meet requirements for international trade. This is especially important for many developing countries that export foods to the major trading blocks of the developed world, or that have the potential to do so. To facilitate such trade, it is necessary to implement international standards, guidelines and recommendations for the production of safe and quality-assured foods. This includes developing the necessary analytical capacity to monitor for contaminants and assure the quality of agrochemicals such as pesticides and veterinary drugs.
The Agrochemicals Unit (ACU) of the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory , in close cooperation with the Food and Environmental Protection Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division, assists Member States in the implementation of the relevant Codex Standards to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures relating to trade in food and agricultural commodities. The activities of the unit include the following:
Training
The ACU implements various training activities through the FAO/IAEA Training and Reference Centre for Food and Pesticide Control (TRC). Training Courses are organized both at the FAO/IAEA laboratories and in host laboratories in Member States. Training is mainly focused on enhancing the capabilities of analytical laboratories and subjects include:
- Veterinary drug residues in animal derived foods
- Pesticide residues in food
- Mycotoxins in food/feed
- Laboratory Quality Assurance
Training is also provided through Fellowships at the ACU, organized through national or regional Technical Cooperation Projects.
Technical back-up
ACU staff are designated as Technical Officers for several Technical Cooperation Projects and work closely with the IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation in the management of these projects. The laboratory also provides technical back-up and troubleshooting for methodologies implemented in Member State laboratories.
Research and Development
Research and development activities are targeted at specific problems identified by Member States and typically focus on method development, validation and transfer for residues or contaminants causing specific problems and the adaptation of existing methodologies for use under the conditions prevalent in developing country laboratories.
A Research Project on The Development of Strategies for the Effective Monitoring of Veterinary Drug Residues in Livestock and Livestock Products in Developing Countries is now coordinated from ACU.
The Unit produces an annual Activities Report which is available for downloading together with the biannual Newsletter on the Sub-Programme's present and future activities.
For further information, please contact the Head, Agrochemicals Unit.