By H. P. H. van der Wulp, Consultant, FAO
With the exception of a few newly industrialized
countries, none of the developing countries have facilities for the
safe and environmentally sound disposal of obsolete, unwanted and
banned pesticides, and they cannot afford to ship them abroad for
destruction in a dedicated hazardous waste incinerator. Countries
with obsolete pesticides are stuck with them so more and more of them
are requesting donors and aid agencies for financial and technical
assistance in disposing of their obsolete stocks. Although agencies
may be prepared to provide financial or technical assistance with the
clean-up of present obsolete stocks, it is unlikely, and undesirable,
that they will establish a regular system of assisting with the
clean-up of obsolete stocks that accumulate in the future. The
longer-term solution to disposal problems lies in preventing
accumulation of obsolete pesticide stocks.
Both UNCED's Agenda 21: Chapter 20 on
environmentally sound management of hazardous waste, and the Basel
Convention on the Control on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Waste and their Disposal, put heavy emphasis on the importance of
avoiding the generation of hazardous waste.
To assist parties in preventing obsolete pesticide
stockpiles, FAO is preparing guidelines on prevention of accumulation
of obsolete pesticide stocks. These guidelines will supplement
technical guidelines on the disposal of bulk quantities of obsolete
pesticides, which are currently being prepared jointly by FAO, UNEP
and WHO. Initially, the guidelines on prevention are being
distributed as a project publication and have the title of
provisional guidelines.
The provisional guidelines start with a description
of the magnitude of the problem followed by an overview of causes of
accumulation. These fall roughly into six categories:
Recommendations containing both technical and policy elements address:
The main recommendations are to:
In addition, donors and aid agencies are
recommended to improve coordination with recipient countries, with
other agencies and within agencies themselves.
Other FAO activities relevant for prevention
include tender guidelines and the development and introduction of the
pesticide bank concept.