Harmonizing Pesticide Risk Assessment Across East Africa: New EAC Guidance for Human-Health and Ecological Protection

The East African Community (EAC) has approved harmonized guidance for human-health, aquatic and terrestrial ecological risk assessment of conventional pesticides used in agriculture and forestry. The guidance provides a common scientific framework for eight Partner States and draws on internationally recognized approaches, including OECD test guidelines and established exposure and risk assessment methods. This article explains the structure of the human-health and ecological frameworks, the role of tiered assessment and risk mitigation, and the potential benefits of a shared regional methodology. It also considers the institutional, legal, technical and data-management challenges that will influence implementation. Consistent application, assessor training, regional peer review and compatible digital dossier systems will be important if scientific harmonization is to produce more predictable regulatory decisions and comparable protection of human health and the environment across the EAC. The East African Community (EAC) has developed harmonized guidance documents for human-health, and aquatic and terrestrial ecological risk assessment of conventional pesticides used in agriculture and forestry (EAC, n.d.a; n.d.b). Recently approved by the relevant EAC sectoral body, the guidance provides the eight Partner States with a common, science-based methodology for evaluating pesticide risks to humans and non-target organisms. It represents one of the most concrete technical steps toward the region’s long-standing objective of harmonized pesticide regulation.