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  • From: Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org, midwestpermaculture@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: [mad_ftaa] Fwd: Canada's Ban of Cosmetic Pesticides Threatened under NAFTA
  • Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 12:12:51 -0600

Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 15:46:10 -0600
From: "Leigh A. Rosenberg" <larosenberg@students.wisc.edu>
Subject: [mad_ftaa] Fwd: Canada's Ban of Cosmetic Pesticides Threatened under
NAFTA
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Canada's First Province-Wide Ban of Cosmetic Pesticides Threatened Under NAFTA
<http://www.earthvision.net/>EarthVision Environmental News


SAN FRANCISCO, 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>http://www.pa
nna.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. For more
information on how to support CAP in this effort, visit
<http://www.panna.org/resources/documents/QuebecLetter.dv.html>http://www.p
anna.org/resources/documents/QuebecLetter.dv.html


Contacts: Michel Gaudet or Rohini Peris, Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides (CAP), C.P. 434, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec J3V 5G8,
Canada; phone (514) 683-5701; fax (450) 441-2138; email
mailto:caponline@videotron.ca>caponline@videotron.ca; Web site
<http://www.cap-quebec.com/>http://www.cap-quebec.com/.


Sources: CAP Press Release: Pesticide Coalition Applauds Quebec's Move to
Ban Pesticides in Urban Areas, July 3, 2002. "Pesticide sparks NAFTA fight"
July 5, 2002, The Montreal Gazette. "Quebec to ban cosmetic pesticide use"
July 3, 2002, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
<http://www.cbc.ca/>http://www.cbc.ca/. Quebec Pesticide Management Code is
available at <http://www.menv.gouv.qc.ca/>http://www.menv.gouv.qc.ca/.

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Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM




  • [permaculture] Fwd: [mad_ftaa] Fwd: Canada's Ban of Cosmetic Pesticides Threatened under NAFTA, Mark, 11/26/2002

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