International Report

FAOPMA also announced its 1994 conference will be held in Bombay, India in September.

ZENECA LAUNCHES DEMON TC IN SINGAPORE

Zeneca Public health launched its demon TC termiticide to the Singapore pest control industry at an event held recently at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. Zeneca was assisted in the "inauguration" by its distributor, Argo Technic PTE Ltd.

Argo Technic managing director Frederick C.H. Heng said the event was "a highly successful, professionally presented launch."

The main event was a talk by Charles Nash jr., business director of Zeneca Professional Products, the manufacturer's U.S. branch. Nash related the benefits of Zeneca's experience in the U.S. termite control industry, the world's largest termite control market.

The benefits of Demon TC versus competitive products were explained, and a lively question-and-answer session ensued. Demon's strong environmental profile was emphasized, as well as its low odor and repellency and killing properties. More than 150 people representing the major pest control companies in Singapore attended the event.

A pre-launched seminar for Demon TC was also held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The seminar was attended by more than 50 people representing about 30 pest control companies. The product will be available to PCOs in Malaysia beginning this month.

HEDLEY PACIFIC TO DISTRIBUT DIATOMACEOUS EARTH IN JAPAN

Hedley Pacific Ventures Ltd., the Vancouver, British Columbia-based manufacturer and distributor of nontoxic insecticides, has contracted with iota-No-Kai of Japan to exclusively distribute Hedley Pacific's Insecolo line of insect control products in Japan for the next five years. The contract also grants Yoshi-No-Kai first right of refusal for a joint manufacturing venture in Asia.

Said Kirk Godfrey, president of Hedley Pacific: "We are pleased by the prompt conclusion of this contract for Hedley Pacific's first overseas expansion, and expect that the first shipments will have commenced by December 15, 1993. We also expect that the minimum guarantees will be substantially exceeded over the five-year term of contract."

Hedley Pacific Ventures ltd. Manufactures and distributes Insecolo diatomaceous earth insecticide, a natural, nontoxic product patented in the U.S. and Canada. Yoshi-No-Kia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the world's environment and health through international trade, cross-cultural exchange and rehabilitation sports.

BTG,USDA AGREE ON MARKETING OF THREE NEW TECHNOLOGIES

British technology group USA (BTG) and the U.S. Department of agriculture (USDA) have signed a commercialization agreement under which BTG will market the rights to three technologies in the diverse fields of insect repellents, plant genetic engineering and poultry vaccines developed and patented in USDA.

The technologies are novel alicyclic carboxamide insect repellents, a technique for plat transformation by gene transfer into pollen, and a Serotype 2 Marek's Disease vaccine.

The USDA technologies complement BTG's strengths in agribusiness, which include pyrethrin insecticides; the grain stripper, which has recently proven its efficiency in a variety of harvests; a range of animal health products including vaccines; a range of pesticides including parasiticides, insecticides and molluscicides; and a range of herbicides, including defoliants and plant growth regulators.

The novel alicyclic carboxamides will find commercial application in both the industrial and household insect repellent markets. They are, according to BTG, more effective repellents, and are effective against a wide variety of insects.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INSECT PESTS A ROUSING SUCCESS

The first International Conference on pests in the Urban Environment (ICIPUE) held recently at Cambridge University in England was a "huge success," the British newsletter Pest Control News reported. The conference met its goal of providing a forum for the exchange of ideas on insect and mite pests associated with people and structures in Urban environments.

Christopher Watson of the Centre for Urban and regional Studies at the University of Birmingham delivered the opening paper at the conference. In it, he pointed out that 45% of the world's population live in urban areas. Thus, the quality of life in cities is a crucial public health issue. Urban residents will accidentally or intentionally introduce numerous plants and animals into their houses and storage structures, Watson noted, and some of these will be threats to public health and require continued monitoring and control.

The gathering provided the first step in creating a dialogue between distant scientists and served to continue discussions that have already been established between some far-flung colleagues, PCN reported.

A survey conducted at the conference clearly showed that attendees believe the event provided an important international forum for the exchange of scientific viewpoints and for scientists to address problems that effect the quality of life of almost half the world's population.

The survey also indicated that those present felt the conference had been very successful, both formally and socially, and that there is a need for ICIPUE to be held on a regular basis.