7 August 2014: As part of its series on pesticides, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Pesticides has published the findings of a survey on the risks of obsolete pesticides, including results from 11 OECD countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK and US.

The OECD defines obsolete pesticides as those no longer fit for purpose due to: product deterioration, de-registration, or a revision of use conditions.

The survey collected information on: the scale of the problem of obsolete pesticides in member countries (including size of stocks and ownership); whether regulations governing the disposal of obsolete pesticides and their packaging exist; and how disposal is implemented and coordinated.

The 63-page ‘Report of an OECD survey on the assessment of the risks from obsolete pesticides in OECD countries’ concludes that in responding countries: the majority of obsolete pesticide stocks are held by the private sector; none undertook proactive assessments of stocks, but many documented quantities collected; most have voluntary collection services in place rather than specific regulations governing collection; collection services for obsolete stocks are mainly implemented by the private sector or private sector/regional or local authority partnerships; and the likelihood of accumulated stocks is lower where dedicated collection and disposal schemes are in place. [Publication: Report of an OECD survey on the assessment of the risks from obsolete pesticides in OECD countries] [OECD Website on Chemical Safety and Biosafety]