A group of firms led by Bayer CropScience has lost a legal bid to overturn an EU ban on the pesticide Endosulfan.
12 September 2008
EJF applauds a ruling this week by the European court of justice that dismissed all arguments brought by the firms against the European commission's decision in December 2005 to end EU marketing of the substance through the 1991 pesticide approvals directive. EJF is campaigning internationally to press governments to introduce measures to ban the import, sale and use of Endosulfan. We are delighted that not only has the Court of Justice upheld the European ban, the European Union has also taken the bold and progressive step of proposing Endosulfan as a chemical to be listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. If added to the Convention list, Endosulfan will be subject to restrictions leading to its eradication from global use, a measure that will directly save countless lives and protect our global environment. EJF field investigations into the use of Endosulfan in cotton production have revealed widespread human health and environmental impacts linked to this deadly pesticide. Pesticides are like Endosulfan are toxic by design, and every year are estimated to cause tens of millions of cases of accidental poisoning. Developing countries are used as a dumping ground for hazardous chemicals that are banned throughout much of the rest of the world because of the serious threats they pose to human health and the natural environment. The EU proposal will be reviewed at a meeting of the Convention in Geneva (19-23 November), and we are urging supporters to write to the EU Commission to congratulate them on this positive move, and to encourage them to press for the strongest restrictive measures possible, which will result in the eradication of Endosulfan in the near future, protecting rural communities and wildlife. To learn more and take action to end its use once and for all, click HERE |
Firms lose EU Endosulfan ban appeal |
