Richard W. Pluke1 and Kassahun Yitaferu2 1Fintrac Inc, 9800 Buccaneer Mall, Suite 10, St Thomas, VI, US Virgin Islands 2MoARD, Crop Protection Department, P.O.Box 62347, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

There are many countries actively trying to promote export-orientated, agricultural development. With this development comes the responsibility of maintaining rigorous control over pesticide importation, registration and use. This is especially true with international certification initiatives such as EurepGAP and MPS and with supermarket audits and certification schemes that demand tight controls.

Pesticide residue issues and worker safety standards mean that producers need to have access to a broad palette of registered pesticides to avoid the over-use of some of the more traditional chemistries. The sometimes unwieldy in-country registration protocols and the reticence of pesticide companies to make the investments needed to register new products for a nascent agricultural sector mean that pesticide selections can be limited. We discuss how Ethiopia has faced these challenges, in light of the burgeoning flower industry and the potential future expansion of the export horticultural sector.