It was organised by Crop Life Ghana, a not-for-profit organisation, made up of importers and distributors of pesticides and fertilizers in the country with a total membership of 24 companies, and supported by the EPA.

Mr Rashad Kadiri, the Programme Manager, Crop Life Ghana, speaking at the forum in Tamale, said it was to help tackle issues of counterfeiting in the crop protection industry.
He said it also formed part of efforts to update participants on products' registration and how to properly manage their businesses to enhance profitability and help eliminate issues of illegal pesticides on the markets in the country.
He appealed to agro-input dealers to prioritise securing certificates and licenses for their business to enable them to deal in genuine and regulated products.

Mr Joseph Edmund from the Chemicals Control and Management Centre of EPA, spoke on how to identify fake pesticides and said such products were often not registered, did not have certification, had bad labels and ineligible texts, which were often in foreign languages.
Such products did not also have critical information such as manufacturers and distributors' address and expiry dates and batch numbers.

As of December, last year, the EPA successfully registered and approved about 1,070 pesticides for use in the country, whilst a total of 32 fake pesticides were banned from the market.
He called for strong collaboration between the EPA and all stakeholders in the sector to help in the fight against illegal pesticides.

Mr Abubakari Nassam, the Northern Regional Vice President, Ghana Agri-input Dealers Association, commended Crop Life Ghana and the EPA for organising the forum, which would promote sustainable agriculture in the region. He urged farmers to stay away from fake products to complement the efforts of the EPA and other partners in promoting safe and responsible use of pesticides and fertilizers.