Pest Control Conference Wrap 2024

A summary of the key pest control industry conferences in the Asia Pacific region in 2024.

Winter is conference season, with two of the principle conferences being Pesticon, organised by AEPMA (Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association) and Pest Summit organised by FAOPMA (Federation of Asian & Oceania Pest Managers Association). Here we provide a wrap of these key industry conferences.

 

Pesticon

Pesticon opening presentation

 

The theme of the Pesticon conference was ‘The People in Pest’. A number of the talks, sessions and announcements tied in heavily with this theme. There were two announcements of particular note: firstly, that pest control as an occupation has been reclassified and will no longer be in the Labourer category; and secondly, AEPMA announced the launch of its Careers in Pest website.

Perhaps the biggest news from Pesticon was the announcement that pest control now falls under the Technicians and Trades Workers class. This has been the work of an AEPMA working group over several years, with the core team consisting of Phil Sayer (Garrards), John Murray (Flick Anticimex), and Bruce Dekker (ProTrain), with support from the wider AEPMA organisation.

“It’s also important to recognise the Garrards management team for their support on the project,” said Mr Murray.

The submission to ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) has been approved and the classification will be released in the December update. This will open up a whole range of opportunities for the industry and the team and AEPMA should be congratulated on this significant achievement. Full details of what this actually means and the next steps will be shared in a detailed article in the next issue.

One of the other AEPMA working groups has been focused on recruitment and career development in the pest control industry in all its facets. The group is co-led by Marshall Blacklock of CDI Pest Management and Sarah Cutting from Spiderman SE Eco Pest Management, and also includes Sue-Ann Tysoe, Checkmate Pest Control and Stacey Clark, Verminate Pest Control. At the conference, the group announced the official launch of the new Careers in Pest website, which serves to highlight the career opportunities in the pest industry and more. The key objective for the group is to showcase the pest control industry to the public and to highlight the potential career pathways to attract people to the industry. The group is also keen to provide a toolbox of management tools, especially for small businesses. Expect to see more information released in the coming months.

Of course, awards are a key part of the Pesticon conference. The awards started with Envu presenting the award for Individual Excellence in Pest Management to Joanne George. Now retired, Ms George was for many years the face of Sentricon in the pest control industry.

 

Sue Ann Tysoe
Sue Ann Tysoe, Checkmate Pest Control, Winner of the AWPMA Excellence Award

 

The Australian Women’s Pest Management Association presented the 2024 AWPMA Excellence Award to Sue-Ann Tysoe from Checkmate Pest Control in Brisbane.

A highlight of the conference dinner was the announcement of the Pest Manager of the Year Award winners (sponsored by BASF). The winners for 2024 were:

  • South Pacific Pest Manager of the Year: Flick Hygiene PTE Ltd
  • Kylee Enwright Micro Business Pest Manager of the Year: Tasman Pest Management
  • Pest Manager of the Year (Fewer Than 10 Employees): Scorpion Pest Management
  • Pest Manager of the Year (More Than 10 Employees): CDI Pest Management
  • Overall Pest Manager of the Year Award: CDI Pest Management

An interview with Marshall Blacklock, owner of CDI Pest Management, will be published in the next issue.

 

Marshall Blacklock, CDI Pest Management,Winner of the 2024 Pest Manager of the Year Award with his wife Sandra Everson
Marshall Blacklock, CDI Pest Management, Winner of the 2024 Pest Manager of the Year Award with his wife Sandra Everson

 

PMANZ

PMANZ Conference Bill Robinson presenting
PMANZ Conference opening talk with Dr Bill Robinson

 

The biennial PMANZ Conference (Pest Management Association of New Zealand) was held in Auckland on 28-29 August. Over 180 pest managers attended from across New Zealand to listen to the varied speakers, with the talks from the main invited speaker from the US, Dr Bill Robinson, a highlight. There is significant excitment in the New Zealand pest management industry as they will be hosting the FAOPMA Pest Summit conference for the first time in November 2026.

 

FAOPMA Pest Summit

FAOPMA Pest Summit
Raja Mahendran spoke at FAOPMA Pest Summit on the central theme of sustainability within the pest management industry

 

The Federation of Asian & Oceania Pest Managers Association (FAOPMA) holds Pest Summit in a different country each year and it is the largest pest control conference in Asia. The 2024 FAOPMA Pest Summit Conference was hosted by the Indian Pest Control Association (IPCA) and was held in Mumbai between 7-10 August. The theme of the conference was ‘Committed to a Healthy and Sustainable World’ and indeed in his opening address, Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon remarked, “The pest control industry is also like the Indian Army, transitioning from curative to preventative.”

The conference was attended by around 700 participants, with 600 from India and 100 from overseas. Although the numbers were down on a normal FAOPMA Pest Summit Conference, partly due to visa issues for visitors and partly due to the APMA conference held a few weeks earlier, it was the biggest pest control conference ever to be held in India. Suren Pest Control Sri Lanka won both the Pest Manager of the Year Award sponsored by BASF and the Sustainability Award from Ensystex. Next year’s conference will be in Malaysia, with the 2026 conference in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

Rajitha Cooke (right) of Suren Cooke Pest Control, Sri Lanka, FAOPMA Pest Manager of the Year Award winner with Subash Markad, BASF regional director APAC based in Singapore
Rajitha Cooke (right) of Suren Cooke Pest Control, Sri Lanka, FAOPMA Pest Manager of the Year Award winner with Subash Markad, BASF regional director APAC based in Singapore

 

Asian Pest Management Forum

APMA 2024 was the new conference on the event calendar. Held in Bangkok in July, APMA 2024 was jointly organised by the newly formed Asian Pest Management Association and the Thailand Pest Management Association. With an impressive speaker line-up of leading academic speakers from Asia and the US, the conference attracted around 500 attendees and a number of key suppliers as sponsors.

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