Philippine Senator, Pia Cayetano, is calling for an enforcement of a ban on endosulfan from the Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority (FPA) as the exemption they gave to multinational agri companies will expire on Dec 31, 2008.
Cayetano said:
I hope that for the safety of our farm workers as well as the environment, the FPA would have enough political will to finally impose a total ban on the use of endosulfan, which they themselves ordered 15 years ago. Isn’t fifteen years more than enough time for these big corporations to find safer and more environment-friendly alternatives? There should be no more exemptions by the FPA, if we are to start the new year right.
Endosulfan is a highly toxic pesticide that the Philippines signed off on in 1993 to ban when other countries called for its use stoppage due to the danger it could have on the environment.
According to an EPA report:
(Endosulfan) is a very persistent chemical which may stay in the environment for lengthy periods of time, particularly in acid media….[e]ndosulfan has relatively high potential to bioaccumulate in fish…Endosulfan can travel long distances from where it is used
Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI) and Dole Philippines Inc. (DPI) however were able to acquire for an exemption from the ban by applying for a permit as an “institutional user.” The most recent exemption received by both from the FPA Board was via Resolution No.003-2005 approved on November 16, 2005 and effective starting on January 1, 2006. Since 1993, when the ban was first enforced, they have been exempted from its coverage for at least ten times via board resolutions issued by the FPA.
Endosulfan gained notoriety in the Philippines after it was discovered to be in the cargo hold of capsized sea liner M/V Princess of the Stars that went down due to a typhoon.
What came as a shock to the world was the fact that the Philippines had signed off on a ban on the use of Endosulfan as well as the discovery that it was transported in a passenger liner. Which was not supposed to be transported in that kind of vessel in the first place owing to its toxicity.
[source]
Category: Misc
