Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Department of Agriculture

Guideline

for Pesticide Labeling

2018

INTRODUCTION

To   implement   the   Pestiide   Management   Decree   No. 258/GOV, dated 24 August 2017 that defines the principles, regulations and measures regarding the use of   pesticides, management and monitoring of pesticide activities to ensure the quality,  efficiency and  safety for  humans,  animals,  plants and environment with the aim of allowing the agricultural and forest production to be carried out in line with clean, green and sustainable  agriculture,  capable  to  ensure  regional  and international integration, and contribute to the national socio- economic development.

According to article 26 of the Decree, the Department of Agriculture  develop  technical  manual  on  pesticide  labelling, which provide the important information based on technical documents of FAO to harmonize with ASEAN country and regional on pesticide labelling and facilitate for pesticide registration unit able to check the compliance of the documents including advise manufacturers and importer to meet the requirements of pesticide product labelling.

The instruction is firstly published and may be improved for the next publication in order to meet development of Lao PDR and suitable and fair for real implementation of concerned sectors.

Director General, Department of Agriculture

2.      THE DEFINITION ANF IMPORTANCE OF THE LABEL

Label means the written, printed or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide or the immediate container thereof and also to the outside container or wrapper of the retail package of the pesticide.

Label is important part of consignments. Additional information maybe provided with the hazards and /or leaflet bind with container, in this case the content should be the same as in the label.

2.      LABEL CONTENTS

The main requirements should include:

         Information to identify the product

         hazard and safety information

         instruction of use

         other relevant information

2.1.    Information to identify the product

1)   Product trade name

2)   Product category (e.g. herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, etc.)

3)   Type of formulation (name and code according to the

International Formulation Coding System, please refer to Annex

1 for the list)

4)   Active ingredient name (ISO common name should be used, or in the absence use IUPAC or name as approved by the

authority)

5)   Active ingredient content (this should normally be expressed as

“contains X g a.i. per kg” (for solids, viscous liquids, aerosols or volatile liquids) or “contains X g a.i. per liter” (for other

liquids). The content may also be expressed as percentage weight/weight (%W/W).

For microbial pesticides the content normally be expressed as cfu/ml  or cfu/g)

6)   Name of any dangerous co-formulants (e.g. solvents, etc.)

7)   Net contents (this should be expressed in metric units (e.g. liter, gram, kilogram, which can be abbreviated to l, g and kg) unless the country does not use, or only partly uses, metric units. In

such situations, local units should take precedence, but metric units should also be given)

8)   Batch number

9)   Registration or approval number assigned by the Pesticides

Registration Authority

10) Name, address and telephone number of the registrant

2.2.  Hazard and safety information

1)    Hazard symbol(s)

All health, environmental and physical hazard symbols

appropriate for the hazard category should be printed on the colour band of the label and the hazard symbols must be placed close to the

signal word and hazard statements.

2)    Signal word

Depending on the hazard category, the signal word “Danger” or

“Warning” should appear on the colour band of the label close to hazard symbols.

3)    Hazard statement(s)

Depending on the hazard category, appropriate hazard statements should appear on the colour band of the label close to the hazard symbols and signal word. All assigned hazard statements should appear on the label.

4)    Colour band

Depending on the hazard category, all label must display the

hazard colour band assigned to the pesticide and the colour band

must be at least 10 percent of the label height that runs from the left to the right of the lowest part of the label. Only hazard symbols, signal word, hazard statements and safety pictograms may be printed on the colour band.

Colour codes banding precautions photos relating to toxicity of product  in the following manner  of declining toxicity at the bottom band of label as classification under  WHO:

-    PMS Red 199C for extremely toxicity pesticide products;

-    PMS   yellow   C   for   moderate   toxicity   pesticide   products classified;

-    PMS Blue 293C for toxicity pesticide products;

-    PMS Green 347C for unlikely toxicity products.

5)    Safety statements

If appropriate, the following general category of safety

statements should be stated at the most appropriate place of the label to warn the user of the potential hazard of the pesticide:

           General precautionary statements or warnings

           Product specific precautionary statements or warning

           Relevant protective clothing

           Precaution when handling the concentrate

           Precaution before, during and after application

           Environmental and non-target organisms precautions

           A warning against the reuse of containers and instructions for the safe disposal or

         decontamination of the product and used containers.

6)   Safety /Advice pictograms

Please refer to Annex 2 - FAO/Croplife Pictograms on a pesticide label

7)    First aid and medical advice

Labels should carry first aid and medical advice

2.3    Use instruction

      How to mix and apply the product, and rate of use;

      When to use the product (including timing and frequency of application) or when not to use the product (e.g. during the flowering period of the crop);

      Where to use the product: crops, targets pests, areas;

      Any limitations, such as susceptible crops or varieties, weather conditions, application equipments, etc.;

      Withholding periods and pre-harvest intervals;

      Compatibility with other products, where appropriate;

      Resistance prevention and management information.

2.4.       Other relevant information

1)   Product or user category

2)   Good agricultural practice statements (Some example of standardized GAP statements are given in Annex 3).

3)   Date of manufacture/formulation (Actual date of manufacture).

4)   Expiry date or similar statement such as the shelf-life (month/year).

3.      LABEL OF PESTICIDE

3.1     Language label

         All pesticide product that produce, import and distribution

in Lao PDR should be in containers with label that have trade mark and statement in Lao language. In case could not affixe Lao

labels on the pesticide container should have leaflet or brochure attached with products, exclude extremely hazardous pesticides.

Label  translated  should  be  accepted  by  Department  of Agriculture prior using.

3.2    Designing a label

Designing label and layout statements may have one, two, three or more panels. Examples of how to structure the different labels are given as follows, please see in Annex 4,5 and 6.

3.3     Print size and style

It is recommended that all safety text should be at least 8-

point, and that all other text should be at least 6-point. Highlighting with bold letters is more effective than using capitals. The followings should be avoided:

      Italics, except for Latin names

      Vertical or diagonal text

       Overprinting illustrations

3.4        Use of colour

Red is a generally accepted warning colour and should be used

only to highlight warning phrases, or for hazard symbols and safety

and precaution statements. For best contrast and easy reading, the text on labels should be mainly black on a plain white background. The following colour combinations may also be considered:

         Black on yellow

         Green on white

         White on blue

5.         USE OF SIGNALS, STATEMENTS AND COLOUR BAND FOR HAZARD OF PESTICIDES

To be able to communicate a hazard or risk effectively, the pesticide needs to be classified according to its hazards and/or

risks. The hazard classifications proposed here are based on the GHS and in these guidelines, only those classification are presented as far as they are relevant for pesticide labeling as follows: Hazard symbol, Signal word, Hazard statement. Please see in Annex 7.