Criticism of Highly Toxic Pesticide Exports From Switzerland and EU to Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Swiss organization ‘Public Eye’ accuses the agricultural Swiss company Syngenta of exporting tons of the highly toxic insecticide Profenofos from Switzerland to Brazil. In 2018 alone, it was 37 tons.

This pesticide, an organophosphate, has been banned on Swiss soil since 2005 due to its potential risk to human health and the environment. According to the eco-toxicologist Nathalie Chèvre of the University of Lausanne, this is a neurotoxin like sarin.

In Brazil, it is one of the most commonly found pesticides in drinking water, writes Public Eye in a research report. It is mainly used in the cultivation of cotton, corn, beets, soy, potatoes, and vegetables.

Brazil is the world’s largest user of pesticides, consuming approximately 7.3 liters of pesticides per capita per year. Over the past three years, under the governments of Presidents Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro, over 1,200 new pesticides have also been approved.

Syngenta, the global leader in chemical crop protection, had sales of over US$10 (R$40) billion in 2018 and is the only company allowed to sell pesticides containing Profenofos in Brazil. According to Public Eye, the company’s sales of these products alone account for around a quarter of the global Profenofos market of some US$100 million annually.

The Pesticide Action Network has long criticized the fact that the European Union applies double standards in the protection of health and the environment. For one, highly dangerous pesticides, which have long been banned in Europe, may continue to be exported to developing countries, where they cause severe damage to human health and the environment.

Many pesticides can be found in large parts of the world’s soils and waters, they are largely responsible for the dramatic decline in biodiversity and cause a number of serious diseases.

In November 2019, the network, together with the Catholic relief organization Misereor, Slow Food Germany and Bioland, called on the German government to work for a global ban on highly dangerous pesticides and to immediately stop the export of banned pesticides.

Practical alternatives to chemical pesticides and ecologically more compatible forms of agriculture are available and must be implemented.