Rethinking Nigerian Chemical Pesticides Regulation: From Product Registration to Lifecycle Governance and National Information System

Abstract

 Chemical pesticides are synthetic chemical-based inputs for agricultural production, food security and public-health pest control. However, their benefits are accompanied by concerns relating to inappropriate use, illegal or unregistered products, pesticide residues in food, occupational exposure, environmental contamination, resistance development, obsolete pesticide stocks and inadequate disposal systems. Conventional chemical pesticide regulation has traditionally emphasized the authorization and registration of products before they enter the market. Product registration alone cannot ensure the safety of pesticides throughout their life span, from production to the end of its life. This review therefore proposes a transition from a predominantly product-centred regulatory model toward an integrated chemical pesticide lifecycle governance approach for Nigeria based on evidence from pesticide consumption, regulation, food residues, environmental exposure and international pesticide-management principles. Seven interconnected governance gaps are identified: pre-market risk-assessment gap; importation and trade-control gap; distribution and market-surveillance gap; pesticide-use and extension gap; food, occupational and environmental-exposure surveillance gap; post-registration and cumulative-risk gap; and obsolete-stock, phase-out and end-of-life management gap. These gaps demonstrate that regulatory effectiveness should not be measured solely by the number of products registered or banned but by the capacity of the regulatory system to follow pesticides from entry into the country through manufacture or importation, distribution, application, exposure, environmental fate, monitoring, reassessment and eventual disposal. To achieve effectiveness, a Nigerian Chemical Pesticide Lifecycle Governance Framework (NCPLGF) and a Nigerian Chemical Pesticide Information System (NCPIS) are proposed. The framework integrates regulatory agencies, customs authorities, manufacturers, importers, distributors, farmers, extension services, laboratories, food-safety institutions, environmental agencies, researchers and communities through a traceable, data-driven governance cycle. Strengthening post-market surveillance, digital traceability, residue and environmental monitoring, resistance surveillance, licensing, obsolete-pesticide management and integrated pest management could provide a pathway toward safer and more sustainable chemical pesticide governance in Nigeria.