Two DDT formulations, 5% and 10% dust, are
offered by Tanzania Links Development Limited-known as Tanzania Pesticides
Limited until 1991. An investigator with the Journalists Environment Association
of Tanzania (JET) had no problems on two occasions buying formulations of DDT 5%
dust from the Morogoro factory. A price list dated 1 March 1996 offers a 25 kg
bag of 10% dust formulation for 52,500 Shillings (US$87.50), and a 25kg bag of
5% dust for 32,500 Shillings (US$54).
Tanzania Links Development Limited distributes, formulates,
repacks or sells nearly 30 different active ingredients. All pesticides imported
into Tanzania must be registered by the Tropical Products Research Institute (TPRI),
which must examine and test the product and be satisfied that it is safe and
cannot cause health or environmental hazards before issuing a permit.
On the two occasions the JET investigator purchased DDT (19
August and 4 October 1996) he asked the factory management whether they were
aware that DDT is restricted in Tanzania. Both times he was told that management
were aware of the ban but had been issued with a permit by TPRI to formulate it.
JET interviewed Mr Henry Lyatuu, the Registrar of Pesticides based at the TPRI
in Arusha, who denied having issued a permit to Tanzania Links Development
Limited or any other company in Tanzania to formulate DDT.
Mr Lyatuu confirmed that DDT is not in the current list of
registered pesticides in Tanzania, noting that until 1992 DDT was registered in
the country under the 'Severely Restricted Registration' category, but in
1993 its registration was cancelled. Since that date TPRI has not issued any
permit to import, distribute, manufacture, formulate, repack, handle, sell or
use DDT under any trade name. On seeing the price list of pesticides sold by
Tanzania Links Development Limited, the registrar noted another seven pesticides
which were not registered in the country. Another 13 were registered, but the
permits to formulate or distribute were issued to other companies.
According to the Registrar of Companies, the Chairman of
Tanzania Links is a Swiss national, the managing director is an Israeli citizen,
resident in Kenya, and the other two directors are Kenyan and a Tanzanian (now
deceased). The factory was once owned by the British firm, Fisons, but was sold
to the present owners in 1981.
Further investigations found DDT is widely available through
farm retail outlets in the Morogoro township and suburbs. Generally it was
repacked into 250-500g sachets. The minimum you can buy from the factory is 3kg.
Some of the shopkeepers appeared ignorant of the fact that DDT was a banned
pesticide, but others were aware of the legal status of DDT, and had taken the
gamble to sell it. Presumably it is popular with farmers because of its lower
price compared with most other insecticides, although malathion 5% dust was on
offer by the company for a similar price.
Farm use
At farm level in the Morogoro and Dodoma Regions the
JET investigator found DDT use was rampant. In Mgeta, farmers were using it on
their vegetable gardens, and seemed unaware of the health and environmental
hazards they were causing. Farmers used DDT without any protective clothing.
They said they had bought the products in repacked sachets, which had neither
labels identifying the products nor instructions of use as demanded by the
pesticide laws. At Gairo, in the Dodoma region, farmers were not only using DDT
on vegetable and other food crops, but also as a grain storage pesticide.
Most of the vegetables consumed in the capital, Dar-es-Salaam,
come from Morogoro Region and a substantial amount of maize and beans for the
capital originate from the Gairo area. Given the persistence of DDT, its use on
this scale is a very serious matter.
The problem presented is not untypical of those facing
regulators in developing countries. Tanzania has a dedicated registration
authority and thorough laws and regulations covering pesticides. Enforcement
presents a major problem, and clearly a determined company is able to circumvent
the law. DDT is one of the pesticides at present subject to international action
which may recommend a total phase out of its production and use because of its
environmental persistence and ability to move from tropical areas of application
to colder northern regions, where it breaks down even more slowly. It is clearly
up to the international community to help developing countries implement their
laws, and find alternative satisfactory solutions to pest control for poor
farmers. (BD)
JET, Press release, Report on production
of DDT in Morogoro, 10 December 1996. JET is an Tanzanian NGO, whose major focus
is to raise public awareness on environmental problems and seek solutions.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 35,
March 1997, page 10]