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South Africa wants the EU to end its double standards on killer chemicals
Africa Confidential
Dozens of African farm workers die each year from exposure to hazardous chemicals that are banned in the EU but used to make products that are then sold into Europe. That was the picture presented to a European Parliament committee on 18 March by a South African panel led by Judge Navi Pillay, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Around 100,000 tonnes of chemicals and pesticides banned in the EU are exported to Africa each year and are used to produce wine from South Africa and fruit and vegetables from countries such as Kenya, Egypt and Angola, which are then sold to Europe. It’s not as though the EU is unaware of the problem. Officials in Nairobi reported this week that earnings from Kenyan produce sold in Europe collapsed by 68% last year, largely because of a spike in seizures by EU customs officials.
In truth, both the EU and African governments are at fault. Most African states have lax rules on chemicals. South Africa’s outdated legislation dates back to 1947. Kenya, meanwhile, banned around 60 hazardous pesticides and chemicals last year, but hundreds of others are still imported. But there is nothing to stop the EU from imposing a blanket ban on such exports, say civil society activists, and the European Commission has been working on an impact assessment of a ban for five years. Officials say that the German chemicals lobby is blocking the way.
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