“It was about time”, this is how Eliécer Feinzag, head of the legislative bench of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) began his presentation, and it is that since March 2019, the herbicide Glyphosate,has been declared carcinogenic in the US, and in Costa Rica it is still used.
In May 2019, the Ombudsman’s Office requested in Costa Rica to prohibit the use of this herbicide declared carcinogenic by a US jury, but it is not yet prohibited in the country. The Ministry of Health also requested not to use herbicides in spaces of human coexistence, but the request remained.
And it is that, according to a study by the National University, published in March 2019, the use of the herbicide glyphosate in Costa Rica in the period 2007 to 2015 increased vertiginously from a few tons in 1982 to 1,761 tons in 2013. This was more than 10 years ago and the situation has worsened.
It’s a global fight
In a historic victory for US farmworkers, in June 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and its constituents – farmworkers and conservationists – by overturning the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision that the toxic pesticide glyphosate was safe for humans and did not endanger wildlife.
In October of this same year, it was reported that researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine found glyphosate in 99% of pregnant women and confirmed that toxic chemical levels were associated with lower birth weight and possibly also with increased risk of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Kattia Cambronero, PLP representative
Will it be achieved in Costa Rica?
In Costa Rica, the use of herbicides and pesticides apparently continues freely, and that is why the deputy of the PLP, Kattia Cambronero together with eight congressmen presented this June 8 inpress conference bill No. 23783 that seeks the prohibition and regulation of pesticides that are highly dangerous to health and the environment.
This law would prohibit agrochemicals such as Glyphosate, Chlorothalonil, Paraquat, Fipronil, Dimethoate, Carbosulfan, Methyl Bromide, Streptomycin, Gentamicin, Oxytetracycline, Kagugamycin, Bromacil, Carbofuran, Endosulfan, Aldicarb, and Alachlor. Some of these are already prohibited by executive decree, however, it is intended to raise this condition to the rank of law.
The bill also includes a package of incentives to make it easier for farmers to transition to more sustainable forms of production, which they hope will encourage entrepreneurship associated with better molecules.
Likewise, it seeks that the Executive, in coordination with the institutions of the agricultural and agro-export sector, the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), research centers of public universities and the National Institute of Learning (INA), promote research, development and technical assistance for sustainable agriculture.
Cambronero thanked the inhabitants of Cipreses de Oreamuno de Cartago who inspired this bill in their fight as victims of chlorothalonil contamination of two of their aqueducts and thousands of people who have been receiving drinking water in cisterns since last year.
In her presentation, Cambronero was emphatic that:
The excessive use of agrochemicals is killing us. It’s killing our farmers, it’s contaminating our water sources, and we’re not doing anything about it.In addition to seeking a ban on agrochemicals like glyphosate, we are proposing a digital prescription so that agronomists must keep a digital record of the products they are using.
Gentlemen farmers: this is not about making a ban to complicate your life. It is about forcing the government to register less polluting molecules so you benefit more. That you do not have to use so many agrochemicals to obtain the results you expect.
It is not possible that in this country it takes so many years to register new, less polluting molecules.They have already informed me that the project is going to be bombarded (with motions). I have no problem because we must break the status quo for the benefit of Costa Ricans.
UNDP study marks the field
Cambronero thanked UNDP and highlighted the work carried out with the report “Apparent use of pesticides in agriculture in Costa Rica”, carried out by Elídier Vargas.
The first conclusion of this study is that Costa Rica has a high use of pesticides in agriculture, which averages around 34.45 kg of active ingredient per hectare per year.
Other conclusions are:
The average use of pesticides in Costa Rica is significantly higher than that of the OECD countries, but also that of other countries with similar agricultural conditions, including Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala.
One of the causes of the high use of pesticides in agriculture in Costa Rica is the dependence of farmers on the technical assistance of pesticide vendors.The high use of pesticides is also related to the weakening of the agricultural extension and research services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, starting in 1995.
A large number of the pesticides that continue to be used in agriculture in Costa Rica are already prohibited or not allowed in other countries, for example, in the OECD countries of the European Union.
1,884 pesticides remain on the market with more than 10 years of being registered and up to 37 years with expired registration terms or that have never had an expiration date, contrary to the weak regulations that did not even contemplate evaluation processes of health or environmental risk.
Starting in 2004, as a result of the intervention of the Comptroller General of the Republic in the registry of pesticides of the State Phytosanitary Services (SFE), new regulations for the registry began to be generated with greater technical support; however, it should have less political interference, especially from pesticide marketing companies.
The country requires the registration of new pesticide molecules for agricultural use, but without failing to carry out health and environmental risk assessments, based on international procedures.
There are no regulations that control pesticide residues in terms of their reference values to protect surface water bodies. It is necessary to update the dangerous characteristics for consumers, agricultural workers, residents of agricultural areas and the environment.
The SFE reports a high level of food contamination with pesticide residues
In some areas of the country with very intensive agriculture in the use of pesticides, rural aqueducts contaminated with pesticide residues have been detected, as well as the contamination of surface water bodies. This has forced the closure of water sources, the construction of aqueducts and the preparation of extremely expensive technical studies.
Perhaps soon we will see in Costa Rica the kind of eco-friendly technological revolution, like the one reported by NBC News’ Jacob Ward: robot laser-killing weeds in a field of kales in the US.
