Quick Facts

Banned Pesticides Being Sold in Developing Countries

"There are many cases where highly hazardous pesticides, which are not permitted for use in industrialized countries, are exported to developing countries.

For a pesticide to be banned, it has to be registered first. Some pesticide companies have not registered or re-registered products which they knew would have not have been authorized in their own country but continue to produce and export the same products to developing countries. There are also cases of pesticide manufacturers increasing exports of products that have been banned or restricted in their own countries, possibly in order to use up existing stocks or to compensate for depleted local markets.

Pesticide companies have also been able to circumvent bans on specific products by building formulation plants for the product in developing countries. They then supply the technical grade active ingredients needed to make the pesticide and claim that the product itself is locally manufactured.

The argument is put forward that developing countries are demanding these hazardous pesticides because less toxic products are often too expensive."

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization)

U.S. Exported 27 Million Pounds (12.3 Million Kilograms) of Pesticides Banned in U.S. between 2001 and 2003

"According to U.S. Customs records, between 2001-2003, the U.S. exported nearly 1.7 billion pounds of pesticide products - 32 tons per hour. A study by Carl Smith of the Foundation for Advancement in Science and Education, published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, notes that these exports included "27 million pounds of pesticides whose use is forbidden in the U.S.," including "500,000 pounds of known or suspected carcinogens." Endocrine disrupting pesticides were sent overseas at the rate of 100 tons a day. Most of the exports - including shipments of deadly persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - were destined for developing countries."

(Source: Pesticide Action Network) 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Policy on Export of Unregistered Pesticides

"Pesticides that are not approved - or registered - for use in the U.S. may be manufactured in the U.S. and exported. FIFRA Section 17(a) requires that exporters of unregistered pesticides first obtain a statement signed by the foreign purchaser indicating the purchaser's awareness of that product in the U.S. The requirement is shipment-specific for a particular exporter, product and purchaser.

To ensure that national officials responsible for the protection of health and the environment are informed of this shipment, EPA transmits a copy of the statement to the Designated National Authority (DNA) (so designated as part of the United Nations program on Prior Informed Consent) in the receiving country. EPA is placing the highest priority on timely notification for two categories of exported pesticides which EPA believes may be of greatest concern to countries:

1. pesticides on the international list of Prior Informed Consent (PIC), most of which have also been banned or severely restricted in the U.S., and
2. other pesticides banned and severely restricted in the U.S. for health or environmental reasons, which are not on the PIC list.
   It is EPA's intention to make the U.S. export notification program compatible with the international one, while meeting domestic legislative requirements. Revisions to the U.S. export notification program will be considered in the context of implementation of the PIC Agreement."

(source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Import and Export Trade Requirements)

Resources

NGOs and International Agencies

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): Prevention and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides Comprehensive and excellent resource.
  

• Foundation for Advancements in Science in Education: Exporting Risk - Documenting Hazardous Trade (reports and maps of pesticide exports from U.S. ports between 1992 and 2000)

• Pesticide Action Network: Pesticide Exports from U.S. Ports, 1997-2000
  

News Articles

• Albion Monitor. December 21, 1995. U.S. Companies Still Export Banned Pesticides. [accessed March 18, 2010]

• Counterpunch. September 7, 2006. The Global Trade in Deadly Pesticides. [accessed March 18, 2010]

• Earthjustice. December 17, 2001. Press Release: "UN Human Rights Investigator Deems U.S. Export of Banned Pesticides 'Immoral'." [accessed March 18, 2010]
  

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Lowry, L.K. and Frank, A.L. "Exporting DBCP and other banned pesticides: consideration of ethical issues." International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. 1999 Apr-Jun;5(2):135-41.

• Holley, Michael. The EPA's Pesticide Export Policy: Why the United States Should Restrict the Export of Unregistered Pesticides to Developing Countries. New York University Environmental Law Journal, 9, 2; 2001. Full text PDF.