developing countries. Further, the United States is 

 the world leader in developing sophisticated regulatory 

 approaches for pesticide use to reduce undesired 

 impacts. At the same time, effective approaches to 

 pest management, including such techniques as water 

 management and crop rotation as well as use of 

 pesticides, are just evolving and are not well 

 understood or even fully appreciated in developing 

 countries. Thus there are many opportunities for 

 collaborative efforts to address a problem of common 

 interest to many countries. 



The United States has many reasons to support 

 continued emphasis and work on improving pesticides in 

 developing countries. First, entomology is a complex 

 science, and field experience in many ecological zones 

 can have a significant impact on the advancement of 

 this science. Such advances could directly benefit 

 work on important problems in the United States, such 

 as those associated with insect immunity and with 

 continuing disregard of the alternatives to heavy 

 pesticide use. 



Second, for the protection of U.S. health and 

 agriculture, it is desirable to avoid reintroducing 

 insect problems into this country that are currently 

 under control, or introducing new problems from the 

 tropics. The possible influx of the Mediterranean 

 fruit fly or insecticide-resistant mosquitoes from 

 Latin America is of special concern, as is the health 

 of U.S. personnel and other travelers to developing 

 countries. 



Finally, on the commercial front, U.S. industry is 

 the leading producer and supplier of chemical 

 pesticides to developing countries, particularly in 

 Latin America. To the extent that markets of 

 significant size may develop for new pesticides (e.g., 

 for cotton and cocoa production) , U.S. commercial 

 interests clearly have a stake in these countries. 

 However, without a potentially large and long-term 

 market, U.S. firms are not interested in making large 

 investments in research and development to develop the 

 types of short-lived pesticides that would be most 

 suitable for local problems. Similarly, U.S. 

 pharmaceutical and veterinary supply companies are 

 interested in markets in developing countries, 

 particularly where markets are sizable. 



Ongoing Work 



U.S. involvement in international collaboration on 

 pest control, particularly insect control, goes back 

 many decades, especially in its relations with Central 

 America and more recently during World War II in Asia 



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