South Africa (SA)’s pesticide policy is outdated and urgently in need of an overhaul
The law that regulates agrotoxins in South Africa is the Fertilizers; Farm Feeds Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947. Being nearly 80 years old it is antiquated and urgently needs to be updated!
As pointed out in the Letter of Demand to Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, despite several attempts, Act 36 has not been scrapped and replaced with legislation that truly protects all populations.
It was noted that a range of civil society organisations and academics have been calling for the phase-out of extremely hazardous and highly hazardous pesticides for the last two decades.
This matter was explicitly referred to by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in its Pesticide Management Policy published in 2010, which stated the Department’s intention for pesticides that pose an unmanageable risk to be considered for phaseout, severe restriction, and bans. These include those with Endocrine Disrupting Properties (EDP), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), carcinogenic and immunotoxic potential, formulations classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Extremely Hazardous (class 1a) and Highly Hazardous (class 1b), as well as pesticides associated with frequent and severe poisoning incidents.
Had this policy been implemented 15 years ago, many lives may have been saved. Thus the phase-out of the 35 HHPs has long since passed, necessitating immediate bans, as outlined in the Letter of Demand.
Why have none of these measures been implemented, even though the department knows the law is not fit for purpose any longer? Thus, the coalition called for all currently registered HHPs to be banned with no phase-out periods.
It is instructive to note that in 2021, the Department of Environment withdrew its regulations to implement SA’s obligations under the Rotterdam Convention, arguing that more time for adjustment was needed –17 years after SA ratified the Convention!
Further to this, Terbufos was one of the agents imported by UPL at its Cornubia store that went up in flames in 2021 and would have been notifiable under these regulations. The Registrar had also promised in April 2022 to phase out 116 HHPs by June 2024 (Terbufos is one of these).
Ultimately, only 28 were identified for phasing out, but not Terbufos, and to add insult to injury, regulations were even passed to allow the industry to apply for exemptions to continue to use these chemicals under certain circumstances! There has been an abject failure on the part of the state to exercise powers in a manner that promotes the rights contained in the Constitution, including the right to life and the right to environment, as well as a duty to foster conduct that protects those rights.
Below is a timeline of the Pesticide policy in South Africa. It can be downloaded here.
