Pesticides News 31 deals
with an encouraging number of exciting initiatives in pesticides. The
Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] has been asked by the Development Directorate of the
European Commission to suggest new guidelines for pest management in
its rural development programmes in partnership with
Africa-Caribbean-Pacific countries of the Lomé Convention, and we
lead with a short report of the first consultation workshop in
Brussels that was held in January.
The international focus is on endocrine disrupting
chemicals, among which are, it is suspected, a number of widely used
pesticides. Trade controls may no longer be sufficient to contain the
usage and spread of such products, and it may be necessary to press
for a phase-out of usage and production. The UNEP-led discussions on
Persistent Organic Pollutants in Canberra, Australia will begin to
address this process. Almost at the same time in Brussels, the
Intergovernmental Negotiation begins, on turning the Prior Informed
Consent procedure into a legally-binding instrument or convention.
Now available from The Pesticides Trust is a short
paper representing the joint position of the Trust and Consumers
International (formerly IOCU) - Trade in Hazardous Chemicals:
Towards a More Effective Early Warning System.
Other features in Pesticides News 31 help to
give access to more information on pesticides. Mark Davis of the
Pesticides Trust reviews current books, databases, and other sources
of information on pesticides. With the help of the Pesticides Exposure
Group of Sufferers (PEGS) we reproduce their poster giving guidance to
doctors on the nature of pesticide-related ill-health. The need for
such guidance is highlighted by Alan Care’s case study on a recent
incident in the UK where he considers exposure to an OP sheep dip has
precipitated in effect a heart attack.
But there is life after pesticides. Keith Jones, of
the NGO Care International, describes how farmer-based IPM in Sri
Lanka can provide crop protection using less pesticides to generate
greater income. Terry Mabbett looks at Green Muscle, a new approach to
locust control. The Pesticides Trust’s cotton project in
co-operation with PAN partners ENDA-PRONAT in Senegal has just
completed its first season, and farmers are queueing to produce
organic cotton; and nearer home Mark Davis interviews the London
Borough of Southwark which is in the process of implementing a policy
that seeks non-chemical pest control.
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 31,March 1996, page 2]