Pesticide residue contamination
has affected the New South Wales cattle industry for the second time
in just over a year. NSW Agriculture has put 23 herds under detention
following the analysis of illegal levels (above 2 parts per million)
of the organochlorine insecticide endosulfan.
The contamination may endanger Australia’s $3
billion export trade. In November 1994, the US, Japan, Korea, Canada
and Taiwan impounded 60,000 tonnes of Australian beef after high
levels of the cotton pesticide chlorfluazuron (CFZ) were found.
Endosulfan is potentially much more wide spread than CFZ.
There has been increased scrutiny of Australian
beef at ports of entry throughout the US after a scathing report from
the US Department of Agriculture found that 14 out of 30 abattoirs in
Australia did not meet US standards.
The US, Australia’s second biggest meat export
market, immediately blocked shipments from six of the abattoirs and
gave 30 days notice to correct the deficiencies and develop an action
plan to prevent a recurrence.
Endosulfan was widely linked to massive fish kills
in northern NSW water-ways in the late 1980s caused by run-off from
cotton farms into rivers.
Sydney Morning Herald, 19/1/96 and The Weekend Australian 20-21/1/96.
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 31,March 1996, page 19]