European Union still exporting banned pesticides despite health risks

Despite internal bans, the EU exported over 122,000 tonnes of hazardous pesticides in 2024, as promised legislation to end the controversial practice remains in limbo. | Contesto: cronaca

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• European Union still exporting banned pesticides despite health risks

Contesto

The European Union exported more than 122,000 tonnes of pesticides banned for use within its own borders in 2024, continuing a practice that has drawn sharp criticism from environmental and public health advocates. The shipments, consisting of chemicals deemed too dangerous for European farmers due to proven risks to human health and the environment, were sent to countries outside the bloc. This trade persists despite a longstanding political commitment from the European Commission to enact legislation that would prohibit it, a promise that remains unfulfilled as the proposed law is stalled in the EU's legislative process. The scale of the 2024 exports underscores the significant gap between the EU's internal regulatory standards and its external trade practices. While European citizens are protected from exposure to these specific substances, which can include carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and chemicals toxic to bees and aquatic life, manufacturers are legally permitted to produce and ship them abroad. This dual standard has been labeled a form of "toxic colonialism" by some non-governmental organizations, arguing that it shifts the health and environmental burden of hazardous agrochemicals onto often less-regulated and lower-income nations. The controversy centers on a fundamental ethical and legal contradiction. A pesticide is banned within the EU following rigorous scientific assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concludes its use poses unacceptable risks. However, current EU law does not prevent the same chemical from being manufactured in European factories—often in major producing member states like Germany, France, Italy, and Spain—and then exported. Proponents of the trade, including some within the chemical industry and agricultural export sectors, argue that it supports jobs and economic activity in Europe and that importing countries have their own sovereign right to assess and manage chemical risks. Opponents counter that this defense ignores the unequal capacity for risk assessment and enforcement in many recipient countries. They point to documented cases of pesticide poisoning among farmers and contamination of...

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Categoria: cronaca