Limitations of the Pesticide Management Regulation in Korea

Overall amount of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) pesticide sales were reported as 826,688 tons of active ingredients over the period 2000-2010 [1]. In particular, nearly all EU transition countries such as Estonia, the Czech and Slovak Republics and Hungary, showed a strong growth in pesticide purchases over the 2000s, compared to the 1990s. In terms of average pesticide use per unit arable and permanent crop area, Korea ranked as the second largest user of pesticides (12.5 kg/ha) among OECD countries in 2003 [2]. So, in the aspect of safety and health, pesticide is one of the most important chemicals that should be carefully controlled in Korea. For use of pesticide, the main challenge is to reduce the risks to human health and ecosystems, while increasing the level of crop productivity. Since 1985, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have published the guidelines regarding pesticide management to provide guidance to governments that seek to review, update or design national pesticide legislation [3]. According to this guideline, almost every country has some type of legislation covering pesticides, but many of existing laws have weaknesses. For example, they may not sufficiently reflect the requirements of international agreements or regional initiatives to harmonize requirements, or they may not be adequately connected to new national legislation on environmental protection, chemicals management, or other relevant areas. In this article, limitations of the current pesticide management regulation to protect the health of users from pesticides were discussed based on the previous pesticide studies in Korea.