Goodbye Paraquat - Leading Food Producers Say No to Paraquat - Malaysia must follow

Press Release, 6 February 2009

Today, the IUF* and the Berne Declaration** published the report "Goodbye Paraquat"¹ which shows that leading producers of palm oil, bananas and tea are increasingly abandoning the highly toxic herbicide, paving the way for a global ban. The report leaves no doubt that the use of Paraquat in modern agriculture is neither essential nor justifiable.

The results of a survey involving more than 40 food producers show that major producers of bananas such as Dole and Chiquita) and tea (Unilever, Nestlé) have moved away from reliance on Paraquat.

The survey also shows that palm oil buyers would prefer a Paraquat free production, while producers of palm oil are about equally divided into Paraquat users and non-users.

The message is clear: Paraquat-free production is economically feasible in large scale production system as well as for small holders. Statements by Syngenta, the leading producer of Paraquat, and by Malaysian agro-industry that the hazardous herbicide is indispensable are clearly untenable.

"With its irresponsible and unreasonable support for the product and its aggressive marketing Syngenta is complicit in tens of thousands of Paraquat poisonings every year" says François Meienberg of the Berne Declaration.

Sarojeni Rengam, Director of Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) says "The report clearly shows that the claims of the Malaysian plantation industry that Paraquat is still needed in their industry are unfounded. Malaysia must ban Paraquat immediately. It's threatening farmworkers health. However, simply substituting Paraquat with other hazardous chemical is no option - in mid-term weed management (on plantations) must be chemical free."

¹ The report "Goodbye Paraquat: Palm Oil, Banana and Tea Producers Saying No to Hazardous Pesticide" could be downloaded at www.evb.ch/en/goodbye.

* The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international trade union federation composed of 353 trade unions in 125 countries with an affiliated membership of over 2.7 million members. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Address: 8 Rampe du Pont Rouge, Petit Lancy, CH-1213 Geneva
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33; Fax: +41 22 793 22 38;
Email: iuf@iuf.org; Web: www.iuf.org

** The Berne Declaration is a Swiss non-governmental organization more then 20'000 members. Through research, public education and advocacy work, it has promoted more equitable, sustainable and democratic North-South relations since 1968.
Address: Quellenstrasse 25, Postbox, CH-8031 Zürich
Tel: +41 1 277 70 00; Fax: +41 1 277 70 01;
Email: info@evb.ch; Web: www.evb.ch

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Contact: Sarojeni V. Rengam
Executive Director PAN Asia and the Pacific
P.O. Box 1170, 10850 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: 604-6570271 or 604-6560381
Fax: 604-6583960
E-mail: panap@panap.net
Home Page: www.panap.net