CropLife SA, the industry body representing manufacturers and distributors of agricultural chemicals, is pleading with government to police the sales of so-called ‘street poisons’ – unregistered and improperly stored products sold in spaza shops for the control of household pests in low-income areas.
The organisation says in a statement it is “appalled” by the recent poisonings of children consuming foods from spaza shops, and warns of a brisk trade in “street poisons” – pesticides containing active ingredients that are banned in South Africa, or that are not registered for non-agricultural use and may by law only be applied by qualified persons.
Information available to the body indicates that foods sold by street vendors and spaza shops in different parts of the country were contaminated “either via the illegal application of pesticides for the control of pests (usually cockroaches and rodents) in areas where foods are prepared and sold, or the food contamination has occurred whilst illegal pesticides are stored in close proximity to food that is subsequently sold to children and other persons by street vendors and spaza shops”.
CropLife SA says none of the suspected pesticides involved in the recent illegal usage have government approvals for use to control household pests, nor have they been found in approved packaging.
“These so-called ‘street poisons’ are not registered by DALRRD for such pest control use, are not packaged in approved packaging (they have been illegally re-packaged) and are not labelled in any way with any kind of detailed use restrictions or warnings related to use of the products in any form whatsoever.
“CropLife SA therefore strongly urges the relevant authorities to seize these illegal street poisons, enforce existing laws around the use of pesticides and investigate how banned products are being allowed to enter South Africa.”
The pesticide industry is highly regulated in South Africa under the Fertiliser, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act (Act 36 of 1947). Any products sold in the formal trade have to go through a lengthy application process and comply with strict safety and labelling requirements.
The industry is also required by law to ensure the safety of its product through its entire life cycle, which includes the collection and recycling of used containers and the safe destruction of expired product.
CropLife “urges all consumers to ensure that they only purchase and use pesticides that are registered for use to control targeted pests, that are in the original packaging and that have an official label directing how the product shall be used and the precautions that need to be taken when using the product”.
