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P A N U P S
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
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Fake Aldrin Cheats Kenyan Farmers
January 14, 2000
Following reports in Kenya of sales of aldrin, a highly toxic
pesticide and persistent organic pollutant, the Kenyan Pest Control
Products Board (PCPB) conducted an investigation and confiscated
stocks of the banned pesticide. Analysis of the products seized by
the PCPB found no trace of the active ingredient aldrin. The picture
that emerged during the investigation demonstrates the problems
facing regulators in developing countries and farmers, who still
rely on the reputation of older products and who lack access to safe
and affordable alternatives.
The PCPB investigation came as a result of a report in the journal
of the Pesticides Trust (UK) by a farmer in the Othaya region of
Kenya. He had found that aldrin was being sold in four out of five
local pesticide shops. The investigation received support from Shell
Chemicals Ltd, London, and the Global Crop Protection Federation
(GCPF) Safe Use Project in Kenya.
Shell was the sole producer of aldrin from 1952 to 1990, and sales
of the pesticide were halted worldwide in 1991. The company sold its
pesticide business in the early 1990s to American Cyanamid, but
maintains an active stewardship interest in its past products.
Since aldrin was withdrawn in 1991, farmers have paid higher prices
for termite control products that are less persistent and require
more frequent applications. Aldrin's reputation as a highly
effective pesticide leads to high sales of products that are
incorrectly labeled as aldrin. Counterfeiters also place the
familiar Shell logo on the label to help boost the price.
As part of the investigation, PCPB inspectors visited all pesticide
shops in the region and impounded any product alleged to contain
aldrin. The laboratory of the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate
Service found no aldrin in any of the confiscated samples it
analyzed although traces of unidentified pesticides were found in
some samples. All the labels bearing the Shell logo were forgeries.
The PCPB regulates imports, exports, manufacture, distribution, sale
and use of pesticides in Kenya, but like most regulatory authorities
in developing countries, it is constrained by a limited budget. PCPB
has only seven inspectors who must cover between 2,500 and 3,000
wholesale and retail shops selling pesticides. Annual inspections
are random and unannounced, and follow-up visits impound fake and
unregistered products. Between 1997 and 1999, inspectors confiscated
nine tons of counterfeit or unregistered products.
Fake pesticides are widely available in Kenya, and the PCPB has
found that raising the awareness of farmers regarding this problem
is difficult. In July 1999, the PCPB published the names of 103
local companies that exploit farmers by marketing counterfeit
products. PCPB has cautioned farmers saying that these fake products
made locally have little or no active ingredients in the
formulations.
The worst type of counterfeit pesticides is the powder or dust
formulations used for preserving maize. Often made of chalk dust and
talc powder, these fake formulations may have been responsible for
the mass spoilage of maize in 1998 in Kenya.
PCPB and the Kenya Agrochemicals Association encourage farmers to
report suspect products to them to help build better cooperation
between farmers, regulators and industry. According to the
Pesticides Trust, actions taken by the PCPB and industry have
established a sound approach for dealing with hazardous and obsolete
pesticides, and could act as an example for other industry and
regulatory initiatives.
Source: Pesticide News 46, December 1999.
Contact: The Pesticides Trust, Eurolink Centre, 49 Effra Road,
London SW2 1BZ UK; phone (44-020) 7274 8895; fax (44-020) 7274 9084;
email pestrust@gn.apc.org; http://www.gn.apc.org/pesticidestrust.
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