At a recent meeting, the UN’s Codex Alimentarius Commission for Pesticide Residues rejected a German Ministry of Health’s resolution for the adoption of the first international agreement on limits for pesticide residues in fish. Pesticide Action Network Germany, who prompted the Health Ministry’s action, is now concerned that highly contaminated fish will continue to reach international markets.
Codex specifically tackled residue limits of the highly persistent toxaphene, an insecticide known to have contaminated fish since the 1960s.
PAN Germany’s call for an international limit for toxaphene in fish has the backing of many public interest groups. In spite of this, Codex has decided against consumer interests.
PAN Germany press release on the Codex Alimentarius Committee for Pesticide Residues, meeting, 1-8 May in The Hague, Netherlands, 9 May 2000.
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 48, June 2000, page 17]