The move aims at curbing recent cases of infiltration of pesticides and herbicides, some of them harmful.
Arusha. The Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA) said it was installing laboratories on border points to address infiltration of pesticides, herbicides and other consumable chemicals into the country.
TPHPA acting director, Prof Joseph Ndunguru said the move aims at curbing recent cases of infiltration of pesticides and herbicides, some of them harmful.
“We have set up the mini laboratories on all the 37 marine and surface points where Tanzania borders with eight countries as well as at the international airports,” said Prof Ndunguru.
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He was speaking in Arusha during the United Nations International Day of Plant Health
He said the authority has procured seven motor vehicles, 19 motorcycles, 20 aerial drones in a bid to reinforce the TPHPA Analytical Laboratories Section and ensure all areas are fully covered.
TPHPA Principal Research Officer, Eliningaya Kweka said the main aim of the border inspections is to ensure the chemicals are not toxic and harmful to crops, plants and farm harvests since the country was striving to be food sufficient.
“The laboratories will also analyse all pesticides being exported out of Tanzania to ensure that they are safe to the environment as well,” Kweka said.
During recent inspections that targeted 1016 outlets in 18 regions, 948 of the shops were found to sell certified pesticides, 93 percent of the total outlets.
Only 6.9 percent of the outlets were found to store harmful products, mostly insecticides used domestically to kill mosquitoes and cockroaches.
The TPHPA, which is the national Authority for regulation of Plant Health and Pesticides matters, deals with a number of issues including conducting pesticides formulation and residue analysis and taking environmental samples for residue analysis according to good laboratory practices.
The authority also works to produce quality analytical reports including certificates of analysis as well as handling pesticides complaints related to quality verifications and plan for intervention.
