Export of EU-banned pesticides doubles in seven years

The EU bans the use of certain pesticides in its member states, but then sells them outside its borders. Brazil first, then Ukraine, Morocco, Malaysia, China, Argentina, Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam and South Africa. And in the last seven years this export has even doubled. The complaint comes from Greenpeace's investigative unit, Unearthed, together with the organisation Public Eye. According to its researchers, last year the EU authorised the export of pesticides containing 75 chemicals that are banned in European crop fields because they pose risks to human health and the environment: almost double the number of banned substances exported in 2018, when there were 41, as a previous investigation had revealed.

It is not only hazardous chemicals that are on the rise, but also the volumes that the EU sends abroad: these include pesticides that cause brain damage in children, infertility and endocrine disruption, as well as huge quantities of insecticides that are lethal to bees and dangerous to wildlife, which the EU itself has called a global threat to biodiversity and food security.

In 2024 banned pesticides in the EU were exported to 93 countries, 71 of which (more than three quarters) are middle- or low-income countries. As many as 25 African nations are among the recipient countries, while the US is the largest importer among high-income countries and the world's largest importer.

Thirteen EU Member States, says Greenpace, are involved in the export of banned pesticides, with Germany leading the way in terms of export volumes, followed by Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Denmark, Hungary and Romania. "It is profoundly hypocritical that European exports of banned pesticides to EU farms have grown so much in the last seven years," comments Simona Savini, from Greenpeace Italy's Agriculture campaign. "These products are sold mainly to poorer countries with weaker regulations, endangering the health of workers in the agricultural sector, local communities and nature. Moreover, nothing guarantees that agricultural products treated with the same banned pesticides exported outside Europe do not return to our country, creating a further paradox"..