FAO and King Faisal University organize international webinar on pesticides

Different capitals, 16 February 2021: In cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia today organized a webinar on the effects of pesticide residues in food on human and animal health.

Opening the webinar, King Faisal University President Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul AzizAl-Ohali said the webinar is in harmony with the university’s focus on food security and environmental sustainability and its social responsibility in raising the community’s awareness about the environment and the need to protect it.

A group of Saudi and international experts in pesticides participated in the webinar, discussing the effects of pesticide residues on human and animal health. They included Dr. Jamal Hajjar, an international expert in pesticides from King Faisal University; Dr Gracia Brisco from the Codex Secretariat at FAO; Dr Richard Brown from the chemical health and safety unit at WHO; the regional coordinator of Stockholm Convention; and Saudi experts from the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.

The webinar is in line with FAO’s objectives and efforts to raise awareness and enhance cooperation between Saudi and international parties involved in pesticide management and food quality control on the one hand and universities and research institutions on the other, which would in turn help create a common perspective on the most important problems concerning food safety and human health.