industry and environment - DTIE

Chemicals management
The current range of genetically modified crops
has been developed in Northern countries for the
agricultural systems operating there. The main
thrust has been to produce crops that are herbicide-tolerant
(allowing simplified weed control) or
that contain insecticides to confer protection
against a range of pests, or both of these traits. This
fits with current practices and has produced
encouraging results in many countries. The technology
itself is being adopted very rapidly, with the
global area growing from 1.7 million hectares in
1996 to 67.7 million hectares in 2003 (Figure 3).
The benefits from biotechnology could be enormous.
It has the capacity to speed up breeding programmes,
create crops that are resistant to pests
and disease, improve the nutritional value of crops,
and provide crops that can survive and thrive in
hostile environments. Delivering these benefits
relies on the technology being presented to end
users in an appropriate form, at an acceptable price
and with the knowledge and skills required to utilize
the technology. These are not dissimilar to
requirements for conventional crop management.
Therefore, many of the problems with implementing
existing technologies may well apply to
biotechnology. It may be that genetically modified
crops are easier to distribute, as the seeds will contain
the trait and there will be no need to apply
additional components as there was in the first
Green Revolution. However, this requires a reliable
distribution network, which is often lacking in the
countries that most need to improve production.
If the potential benefits are examined, it can be
seen that they are potentially wide-ranging. The
following examples show how GM technology
can be applied to specific agricultural problems.
Pest resistance
Specific resistance to a particular pest is obviously
beneficial to farmers. They will either be able to
grow the crop where they couldn’t before, or be
able to reduce the amount of pesticide that they
use to control it. Crops containing insect resistance
genes from Bacillus thuringiensis confer protection
to a range of lepidopterous pests. This has
significantly reduced the quantity of insecticide
used in cotton crops in the United States, where
1million kilograms less insecticide was used in
1999 compared with 1998. Reports indicate that
the introduction of Bt cotton into China has
reduced the number of sprays from 20 to seven
per season in many parts of the country. However,
there are reports that some farmers still spray
up to 22 times even if the modified crop is being
grown. Whether this technology can be trans-
Mexico’s success in eliminating chlordane within a regional cooperation framework
Mario Yarto, Director of Research on Chemical Substances and Ecotoxicological Risks, National Institute of Ecology-SEMARNAT,
Periferico 5000, 4 th floor, Col. Insurgentes Cuicuilco, Mexico City 04530, Mexico (myarto@ine.gob.mx)
A well-known group of chemicals are classified as persistent organic pollutants
(POPs). 1 Their properties include high toxicity, persistence in the
environment, long-range transport in the atmosphere, and accumulation in
fatty tissue. Direct contact with POPs can result in acute effects; accidents
with POPs used as pesticides, for example, have killed agricultural workers
or made them seriously ill.
Chlordane, a pesticide classified as a POP, was widely used in the past to
control insect pests in crops and forests. It also had domestic and industrial
applications, including termite control in wood and wood products. It
has been designated a probable human carcinogen. High levels can damage
the nervous system or liver. Chlordane is also known to affect the endocrine
system and digestive system. It can cause behavioural disorders in children
exposed before birth or while nursing.
Exposure to chlordane may occur due to eating contaminated foods or
exposure to contaminated soil. It has been shown to be toxic to non-target
species, including birds, fish, bees and earthworms.
Member countries of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety
(IFCS) agreed that there was sufficient evidence to warrant international
action on POPs, including chlordane (IFCS/Forum-II/97). This was the
basis for a decision of the UNEP Governing Council in January 1997 to the
effect that a legally binding international instrument for the control of
POPs should be developed.
Development of a Regional Action Plan
Chlordane was originally introduced into Mexico and many other countries
for extensive use in agriculture. In recent years, however, use of this
pesticide has been limited to termite control in certain wood products.
Chlordane use was one of the first targets of the Sound Management of
Chemicals (SMOC) initiative of the North American Commission for
Environmental Cooperation (CEC). In 1997 a North American Regional
Action Plan (NARAP) on chlordane was approved by the governments of
Mexico, Canada and the United States, with the goal of phasing out registered
uses by 1998.
In developing a NARAP for chlordane, the Parties involved committed
to ongoing cooperative activities and annual reporting on the progress
made. The reports were subsequently made public and forwarded to the
Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. The Parties
also continued their commitment to the principle of prior informed consent
(PIC): if an importing country does not consent to import a chemical
substance, the exporting country has the obligation to inform the exporting
industry of that decision and take appropriate legislative and administrative
measures to ensure that export does not occur.
The NARAP for chlordane was intended to be the basis of a coordinated
regional contribution to these international initiatives. A number of specific
regulatory and administrative actions were included:
1. The United States encouraged industry to voluntarily phase out chlordane
production;
2. Canada and the US worked closely with Mexico to provide available risk
assessments concerning suitable alternatives to chlordane;
3. Canada and the US continued to provide support for hazardous waste
collection programmes that included chlordane. Information on these programmes
was shared with Mexico, which administered its own hazardous
waste collection programme;
4. All three countries reported publicly available data on chlordane use,
production, import and export;
5. Canada, Mexico and the US produced annual reports on progress
achieved under the NARAP.
Implementation and benefits
After production ended in the United States, the next step was to find out how
much chlordane was being used in Mexico and where. Canadian and US agencies
came to Mexico in order to demonstrate the best and cheapest ways to test
for chlordane and monitor its use. They shared detailed information on the
elimination of its use and on which regulations had been effective. The CEC
also set up workshops to explain the dangers of chlordane and present alternatives.
For example, heating furniture above certain temperatures kills termites
just as effectively as spraying with a noxious chemical.
Mexico imported 212.8 tonnes of chlordane between 1992 and 1996, all
from the US.
Use of chlordane in Mexico is currently illegal. This means that the use,
commercialization, import and formulation of chlordane and of its active
ingredient are prohibited by law. Its phase-out is now complete, as the only
company holding a chlordane active ingredient registration stopped
importing it in 1997 and had no stocks by 1999. Apparently, no pesticides
containing chlordane were imported at that time.
Another factor in the success of this programme is that it encouraged
optimism about similar low-cost efforts in the future. Apart from a few
grants to Mexico for some studies, the bulk of the work consisted of
exchanging expertise and techniques, with information dissemination and
capacity-building actions.
What also made this easier was the fact that Mexico had begun to control
the use of chlordane. By 1997 this was limited to urban use to control termites,
mainly in houses. However, completely ending chlordane’s use took
several more years and required mutual help across the continent.
30 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment April – September 2004