CNGPC Members Sensitized on Highly Hazardous Pesticides

Dakar, July 2, 2026 Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Africa held an awareness workshop for members of the Pesticides and Toxicovigilance sub-commissions of the National Commission for the Management of Chemical Products (CNGPC) on highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), at the meeting room of the Directorate of Regulation and Control (DIREC). Twenty-three participants attended.

A project to better identify and monitor HHP-related poisonings

The workshop is part of a broader project aimed at identifying and prioritizing the highly hazardous pesticides responsible for poisonings and deaths in Senegal, in order to enable better monitoring, effective prevention, and informed decision-making at the national and regional levels.

The workshop pursued three specific objectives:

• present the project (context, objectives, activities, expected results) and its partners;
• identify the stakeholders involved in managing and monitoring cases of poisoning and death linked to HHPs;
• validate three priority zones for collecting data on these cases.

A collaboration praised by the authorities

In his opening remarks, Mr. Papa Sam Gueye, President of the CNGPC, highlighted the challenges of managing chemical products and pesticides at the national and regional levels. According to him, this capacity-building project comes at the right time, as it will contribute to better management of HHPs, which cause human illness and damage to the environment and biodiversity.

Ms. Marico, Permanent Secretary of the CNGPC, welcomed the collaboration between PAN Africa, DIREC, and the CNGPC, whose results, she said, would benefit both people and the environment. She emphasized that managing pesticides in developing countries requires ongoing capacity-building for stakeholders.

Ms. Wane Ndeye Maimouna Diène, PAN Africa Coordinator, recalled that the project is funded by the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention (CPSP) and the University of Edinburgh, and that it had already been launched in Dakar with strong stakeholder participation. She praised the close collaboration between PAN Africa, as an NGO, and state institutions (DIREC, the Poison Control Center, DPV, etc.), and thanked the project team Ms. Aïta Sarr Seck and Prof. Absa Lam  as well as all participants for their commitment.

Context: regulation still poorly enforced

Discussions highlighted the continued circulation of banned pesticides within Senegal's territory, as well as weaknesses in the enforcement of regulations governing chemical products in general and pesticides in particular.

Questions, suggestions, and recommendations from participants

The discussions that followed the presentations raised several questions, notably regarding the distinction between this project and the GFC project, the need for additional funding to enable the CNGPC to carry out environmental monitoring, and whether heavy metals are covered by the project.

Recommendations put forward included:

• strengthening collaboration with relevant institutions to ensure reliable data;
• facilitating data collection through an official letter addressed to the relevant institutions;
• adopting a One Health approach for a holistic perspective;
• working with customs authorities to trace the import process of pesticide products;
• engaging with regional public prosecutors;
• advocating with PAN UK for improvements to the TMAPP tool, whose data quality currently leaves much to be desired;
• making use of laboratory analysis results to detect pesticide residues;
• maintaining field surveys alongside data from institutional sources;
• aligning the project timeline with expected deliverables;
• establishing a small technical committee.

Partner institutions identified

Participants validated a list of institutions able to provide data: DPV, DIREC, the Poison Control Center (retrospective studies), hospitals, the police, Ceres-Locustox, CNGPC, AUMN-Niayes, the National Gendarmerie, PAN Africa, CropLife Senegal, the Ministry of Commerce, UPIC, Customs (customs nomenclature), laboratory analysis data, CPSP, SNH, PNLP, ISRA, CONACILSS, OLAC, OMVS, OMVG, and DGPRE.

Three priority zones selected

Following the discussions, three survey zones were identified for data collection:

1. The Niayes zone
2. The cotton-growing zone
3. The northern zone of the Middle Senegal River Valley

Closing of the workshop

Mr. Papa Sam Gueye, President of the CNGPC, closed the workshop by thanking all participants and PAN Africa, and wished the project every success going forward.