Fake aldrin cheats Kenyan farmers 

Following reports of sales of the UNEP-listed persistent organic pollutant aldrin in Kenya, the Kenyan Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), which regulates pesticides in the country, conducted an investigation and confiscated stocks.

A Kenyan receipt for 200 ml of counterfeit Aldrex (aldrin) sold to a farmer on 25 August 1999

Analysis of the products seized by the PCPB found no trace of the active ingredient aldrin. But the complex picture which emerged demonstrates the problems facing regulators in developing countries, as well as the farmers who still rely on the reputation of older products, and who lack access to safe and affordable alternatives.
    The latest PCPB investigation was carried out following a report in Pesticides News (PN43, p10) by Stephen Wachira, a farmer in the Othaya region of Kenya, that aldrin was being sold in four out of five of the local pesticide (Agrovet) shops. The PCPB investigation was supported by Shell Chemicals Ltd, London, and the Global Crop Protection Federation (GCPF) Safe Use Project (SUP) in Kenya. 

Fake products, fake labels
Shell was the sole producer of aldrin, which it manufactured from 1952 to 1990. Shell companies ceased all sales of the product by the end of 199(1). The company sold its pesticide business in the early 1990s to American Cyanamid, but maintains an active stewardship interest in its past products. 
    Since aldrin was withdrawn in 1991 farmers have paid higher prices for termite control products that are less persistent, and require more frequent applications. The reputation of aldrin encourages counterfeiters to fake, and farmers to buy. Labels bearing the familiar ‘Shell’ logo are also faked to boost the price to about US$8-$10 per litre. Other products claiming to contain aldrin sell for half this. 

Firm action by inspectors
PCPB inspectors visited all the Agrovet shops in Othaya and impounded for analysis any product alleged to include aldrin. George Odhiambo, Principal Inspection and Licensing Officer of the PCPB indicated that “In all we took 13 samples … Later we took some other samples from some other parts of the country purporting to contain aldrin (in all we analysed 20 additional samples).”1 The laboratory of the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service found no aldrin in any of the confiscated samples it analysed, and traces of unidentified pesticides in some. All the labels bearing the distinctive Shell logo had been forged.
    Since 1997 PCPB inspectors have found and impounded 120 litres of aldrin, of which 21 litres claimed to be Aldrex 48, bearing fake Shell labels. The sales appear to be concentrated mainly in the Central, Eastern and Rift Valley Provinces. In fact aldrin is still registered in Kenya for termite control in the building industry, although it has been banned for all agricultural use since 1986, but none of the samples found has been a registered product. 

The task ahead
The PCPB regulates the imports, exports, manufacture, distribution, sale and use of pesticides in Kenya, but like all regulatory authorities in developing countries is constrained by a limited budget. The seven PCPB inspectors must cover between 2,500-3,000 wholesale and retail shops selling pesticides. Their annual inspections are conducted on a random and unannounced basis, and follow-up visits impound fake and unregistered products. 
    The aldrin story is only one of the problems that PCPB has to deal with. Between 1997 and 1999 inspectors confiscated in total nine tonnes of faked or unregistered products. 
    Fake pesticides are widely available and raising awareness remains a challenge. In July 1999 the PCPB published the names of 103 local companies which are exploiting farmers by marketing these bogus products(2). Mr Odhiambo cautioned farmers not to buy these products “These are just local products people are making illegally here. They under-dose or do not put in any of the active ingredient(s) at all.”(3) Unfortunately many ‘companies’ – small scale operators of one or two people – simply carry on marketing the fake products under a different name. Keeping up-to-date and informing all farmers is a near impossible task.
    The worst category of counterfeit pesticides is the powder or dust formulations which are used for preserving maize grain. These are being duplicated using cheap chalk dust and talc powder. One of the PCPB inspectors, Mr Ochieng, indicated that he believes that these fake formulations were responsible for the mass spoilage of maize grain in 1998(4).
    The actions taken by the PCPB and industry have established a sound approach for dealing with hazardous and obsolete pesticides, and could act as an example for other industry and regulatory initiatives. The PCPB and the Kenya Agrochemicals Association want to encourage farmers to report suspect products to them to help build better cooperation between farmers, regulators and the industry. (BD)

References
1. G Odhiambo, PCPB letter of 9 August 1999.
2. PCPB Notice to the Public, Daily Nation, 27 July 1999.
3. Govt issues fake chemicals alert, Daily Nation, 28 July 1999.
4. Ibid.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 46, December 1999, page 9]