The Export of Banned Pesticides to Africa and Central America

The report argues that pesticides banned in their country of manufacture are classified as 'hazardous wastes' under the Bamako Convention and the Central American Agreement. Because many importing nations in Africa and Central America have monist legal systems or specific domestic laws incorporating these definitions, the report concludes that exporting such substances from Basel Convention parties (including the EU, UK, and Switzerland) violates the Basel Convention, international customary law, and the extraterritorial human rights obligation to protect the right to health.

• Pesticides that are banned or not approved in Europe are classified as hazardous wastes under the Bamako Convention and the Central American Agreement, making their import prohibited in those regions.
• The export of these pesticides to specific Basel Convention parties in Africa and Central America violates the Basel Convention because those countries' domestic legislation defines banned or unapproved pesticides as hazardous wastes.
• The report identifies 17 countries where domestic law considers banned or unapproved pesticides to be hazardous wastes: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mali, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Togo.
• European States and other Basel Convention parties have a legal obligation to ban the export of domestically banned pesticides to countries that have incorporated the Bamako or Central American definitions of hazardous waste into their laws.
• The failure of European States to ban the export of these substances constitutes a breach of international human rights obligations, specifically impairing the right to health in importing States.
• Exporting domestically banned pesticides is considered a breach of international customary law because it frustrates the object and purpose of the Basel Convention by making it harder for other parties to fulfill their treaty obligations.
• In 2018, more than 80,000 tonnes of pesticides banned in the EU (including the UK) were exported, involving 41 banned pesticides associated with risks such as cancer, birth defects, and hormonal disorders.
• The UK exported over 10,000 tonnes of domestically banned pesticides in 2020, largely consisting of paraquat manufactured by Syngenta in West Yorkshire despite a domestic ban since 2007.
• Switzerland banned the export of five domestically banned substances in 2021, but still allows the export of over 100 other unapproved substances via a licensing requirement.

APA

Carlini, G. (n.d.). The Export of Banned Pesticides to Africa and Central America. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Legal-Analysis_Exports-of-Banned-Pesticides_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Carlini, Giulia. The Export of Banned Pesticides to Africa and Central America. Center for International Environmental Law, n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Legal-Analysis_Exports-of-Banned-Pesticides_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Carlini |first1=Giulia |title=The Export of Banned Pesticides to Africa and Central America |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Legal-Analysis_Exports-of-Banned-Pesticides_FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carlinindexport, author = {Carlini, Giulia}, title = {{The Export of Banned Pesticides to Africa and Central America}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Legal-Analysis_Exports-of-Banned-Pesticides_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }