Pesticide companies sue Canadian province under NAFTA

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Action Alert: Canada's First Province-Wide Ban of Cosmetic Pesticides Threatened

Under NAFTA

 

November 15, 2002

 

Quebec's Minister of the Environment has called for new regulations to reduce

pesticide use throughout the province. In July 2002, the Minister presented a

new Pest Management Code that includes strict new regulations designed to

" progressively institute a decreased and more prudent use and sale of

pesticides. " The Code would ban a number of pesticides for non-agricultural uses

including the herbicide 2,4-D, and has come under sharp criticism by a group of

2,4-D manufacturers in the U.S. who have threatened to sue the Quebec government

under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

 

The movement to ban the use of pesticides for cosmetic (purely aesthetic)

purposes has grown steadily in Canada since June 2001, when Canada's Supreme

Court upheld the 1991 pesticide bylaws of Hudson, Quebec. Hudson is one of

nearly 60 Canadian city municipalities that already ban cosmetic lawn

pesticides. Many more Canadian cities--including Montreal, Ottawa and

Toronto--are also considering bans.

" This could be the first province-wide or state-wide ban of its kind in the

world, " said Michel Gaudet, of the Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides

(CAP). CAP and other local citizen and environmental groups have played a key

role in forwarding Quebec's Pest Management Code and promoting alternatives to

urban pesticide use.

 

The Code is expected to pass the Quebec government by the end of 2002 and come

into effect in early 2003. The Code states that by 2003, synthetic pesticides

will be prohibited in all daycare facilities and schools and cosmetic pesticides

will be banned from all public land; by 2005, the ban will extend to all private

green spaces. Fines will range from CAN$500-$30,000. The ban covers 23 pesticide

active ingredients that--according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) and/or World Health Organization (WHO)--are known or possible carcinogens

or endocrine disruptors, including lindane, malathion, MCPA, permethrin,

benomyl, captan and 2,4-D.

 

In addition to the ban, the Code will also increase buffer zones around spray

applications, outlaw application of mixtures of pesticides and fertilizers,

require sale and use permits for pesticide applicators, require golf courses to

present pesticide use reduction plans, and provide a list of less-toxic and

organic pest control products. The Quebec government also plans to support

alternative pest management education for the public and training for pesticide

applicators.

 

One day after the Environment Minister presented the Code, the U.S.-based

companies that manufacture 2,4-D threatened to sue under Chapter 11 of NAFTA.

Donald Page, spokesman of the Industry Task Force on 2,4-D Research, stated

that, " [Quebec is] going to have to stand up in court and prove [that 2,4-D

causes cancer]. " Page's group, funded by 2,4-D's largest manufacturers, Dow

Agro-Sciences, BASF, Nufarm and Agro-Gor SA, is spending US$30 million on tests

intended to show that 2,4-D is not carcinogenic. The U.S. EPA estimates that at

least 58 million pounds of 2,4-D are used in the U.S. each year.

 

This is not the first time that pesticide manufacturers have threatened to sue a

Canadian government under NAFTA for projected profit loss (see PANUPS: Canadian

Government Sued for Banning Lindane, January 3, 2002

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20020103.dv.html).

 

However, the Environment Minister seems resolved: " I consider health to be more

important than a perfect lawn. I would therefore like to ask Quebecers to avoid

using pesticides, or if they need to do so, to use them in ways that respect our

health and the environment. " CAP has called for international support for the

Quebec government to stand against the pesticide manufactures' lawsuit under

NAFTA.