Tell the UK Government to Stop The Trade of Toxic Pesticides

Tell the UK Government to end the double standards on pesticide trade

Investigations have revealed that in 2020 the UK Government permitted the export of over 12,000 tonnes of UK-manufactured ‘Banned Pesticides’, despite these chemicals being banned for use in the UK due to the severe risks they pose to human health and the environment. However, loopholes in international trade law are allowing for companies such as Syngenta to manufacture these pesticides – namely the toxic herbicide Paraquat – and export them to countries where they are permitted for use.

With Paraquat ‘one sip can kill’, and evidence is mounting of the numerous adverse health conditions linked with exposure to the chemical. Furthermore, many of the UK’s exports are bing shipped to low and middle-income countries including Colombia, India, Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador where weaker regulations, inadequate protective equipment and a lack of translated instructions and labels means that farmers in these countries are at a much higher risk of exposure, illness, and death. Tens of thousands of people – including many children - have died from ingesting Paraquat since the British company Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) first put it on the market in 1962, and it continues to pose a deadly threat to farmers and food producers across the globe.

Write to the UK Goverenment today and ask them to end this deadly display of double standards and put and end to the export and import of toxic pesticides.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng

Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan

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I am writing to you with deep concern that the UK Government still permits the export of harmful pesticides which are the cause of countless predictable and preventable deaths as well as long-term health issues for food producers in other countries.  
The EU’s list of Banned Pesticides, including the toxic herbicide Paraquat, are not authorised for use in the UK due to the serious risks they pose to human health and the environment. Yet loopholes in international trade law still allow for these chemicals to be manufactured in the UK and exported to countries where their use is permitted.  
This display of double standards must be addressed immediately. 
As HSE has recently confirmed, in 2020 over 12,000 tonnes of harmful agrochemicals which are banned for use in the UK were authorised for export overseas. UK companies exported seven different banned agrochemicals including the weedkillers Paraquat, Diquat, and Asulam, the insecticides Imidacloprid and Cyhalothrin, and the fungicides Chlorothalonil and Propiconazole.
These chemicals can be lethal to humans if consumed, and evidence is mounting of the long-term and serious damages to human health caused by exposure - including liver and kidney failure, DNA damage, and Parkinson’s disease. Since the British company Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) first put it on the market in 1962, Paraquat has been the cause of tens of thousands of deaths worldwide - including many children. 
Four fifths of the intended destinations for UK Banned Pesticide exports were low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) including Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and India, where experts say that weaker regulations, lack of protective equipment and adequate training, as well as poorly labelled containers and untranslated instructions are putting food producers at dangerously high risks of exposure, illness and death. 
The 2019 Conservative Manifesto outlined several advantages to leaving the EU, highlighting the UK Government’s ability to raise standards for workers’ rights as well as heightening agricultural and environmental standards. However, new UK trade partnerships - such as with Brazil -  are further reinforcing the government’s hypocrisy when it comes to pesticide standards, as increased food imports from countries where toxic pesticide use is permitted would result in risks to consumer health and undercutting British farmers through lower import standards, all while exporting the deadly risks onto food producers in poorer countries. 
I therefore urge you to address this deadly mess of double standards and put an end to the manufacture and export of pesticides that are banned for use in the UK, and to put measures in place to protect UK food import standards on pesticide residues in any future trade deals.
For more detailed information, the Landworkers’ Alliance have compiled a policy brief document for MPs which you can access here: <a href="https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Policy-Brief_-Stop-Exporting-Banned-Pesticides-.pdf">https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Policy-Brief_-Stop-Exporting-Banned-Pesticides-.pdf</a>

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