Monday, 30 April, 2012

Worries grow over restricted use of Syngenta herbicide

Paraquat is a herbicide that’s toxic to animals and humans and is banned in several countries, including Switzerland. Yet it continues to be produced and distributed around the world under the name Gramoxone by one of Switzerland’s biggest companies, agrochemicals giant, Syngenta. A new report conducted by the sustainable investment foundation, Ethos, has found that Paraquat is rarely used safely in many developing countries. Ethos says Syngenta needs to adopt a strategy of “zero misuse.” This would mean Paraquat would only be sold to people trained in its safe use. So what do campaigners against Paraquat have to say about the idea? WRS’s Dave Goodman spoke to François Meienberg from the NGO Bern Declaration and began by asking if the idea of regulated use was realistic:

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