POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte

These are known as unwanted, obsolete pesticide stockpiles,
some of which are already banned in many States of the world.
They pose a serious threat to human health and the environment
due to their persistency and hazardous properties that damage
water supplies, land use, human health, animals and plants.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations has compiled an inventory of obsolete stockpiles for 45
countries in Africa and the Near East and a few countries in the
Far East, Latin and Central America and the Caribbean. In most
cases, the inventory includes producers, suppliers and responsible
donor organizations. The total stockpiles estimated to exist in
Africa including heavily contaminated soils and empty and
contaminated pesticide containers is nearly 50,000 tonnes and is
likely to increase above this total. 2
These obsolete chemicals are either stockpiled in sub-standard
storage facilities, or kept in the open or under trees with little or
no safeguarding. They have been left to endanger or contaminate
soils, ground and drinking water and agricultural irrigation
systems. Some are strewn across the environmental landscape of
receiving countries and some have been introduced through
illegal markets or cross-border smuggling.
Some originated from supplies under different aid packages of
assistance over a number of years. Unfortunately new stockpiles
of hazardous and poisonous chemicals continue to accumulate.
Basically these substances are produced and exported by the 8
most powerful multinational chemical companies, namely,
Aventis, BASF, Bayer, Dow AgroSciences, Dupont, Monsanto,
Sumitoma and Syngenta collectively dominating over 80% of the
world's market. Some of these companies have either merged,
changed names or have expanded their business into larger
conglomerates. Pesticide sales earn companies over US$ 30
billion per year.
The seats of these companies are in rich industrialised countries,
all members of the thirty-country global Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Obsolete pesticide stockpiles are a serious international
environmental problem that has attracted little public attention as
yet. Nonetheless, vigorous efforts are underway to assist affected
countries by the responsible United Nations bodies, particularly
FAO and UNEP. There is also a heated debate among
responsible producers and suppliers and governmental aid
organizations such as the German GTZ or USAID.
2 Preliminary list of countries with known obsolete pesticide stocks – Countries in Africa, www.fao.org
News Highlights (=FAO 2001)
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