“WORLD PEST AWARENESS DAY” A REMINDER OF HOW PROFESSIONAL PEST MANAGEMENT HELPS PROTECT OUR QUALITY OF LIFE

Global pest awareness day will become a worldwide annual observance on June 6.

The Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA) has joined forces with FAOPMA (Australasia) and NPMA (USA), its counterparts around the globe, to create awareness with citizens all over the world for the important role the professional pest management industry plays in protecting public health and keeping citizens, homes, schools, recreational areas, hotels, food manufacturers, retail companies and others safe, pest and disease-free.

Pest management is an important aspect in today’s society, as common household pests, such as xylophagous larvae (woodworm), termites and insects can cause costly damage to property, while others, such as rodents, cockroaches and flies create food safety issues or allergies in the case of bed bugs, and mosquitoes and ticks pose significant health threats to humans through disease transmission.

Every day, pest management professionals work to protect people and properties from the potential diseases and damage caused by pests. The importance of effective pest management was once more underscored in 2016 when the world was introduced to the Zika virus, a new mosquito-borne disease.

 “On the occasion of this very first Global pest awareness day, I am proud to report on the progress that our industry has collectively achieved over the past couple of years in terms of protecting European citizens, their property, their food and the environment in which they live against public health risks,” said Bertrand Montmoreau, Chairman of the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA). We should also take some efforts on Global pest awareness day 2018.

“Since its launch in March 2015 the CEPA Certified certification programme – a European standard developed in cooperation with the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) – has managed to motivate more than 300 pest management companies across Europe to voluntarily undergo a 3rd party certification audit to demonstrate their professionalism. In line with our strategy to create a level playing field for all pest management operators more than half of the companies seeking CEPA Certified certification are smaller companies (less than 10 employees).

With the help and support of 65 officially endorsed certifying bodies, we have certified pest management companies in each of the 28 member states of the European Union to CEPA Certified EN16636. Thanks to the commitment of our industry we are convinced that we are well on track to meet our promise to the European Commission to reach a critical mass of 1000 CEPA Certified companies in Europe by 2020 and thus guarantee that the professionalism CEPA and its 28 member Associations collectively stand for is accessible for all European citizens.”