The Rainforest Alliance prohibited paraquat in its first sustainable agriculture standard, published in 1993. Since then, and in close collaboration with farmers who participate in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program, we have shown that key crops can be grown without paraquat in tropical agriculture supply chains. More generally, phase outs of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHP) have been proven to protect against serious threats to the environment and human health, while bringing long-term benefits to tropical ecosystems and farmers.