THE manufacture of hazardous substances that are banned in Britain but can be produced for export – such as the weed killer paraquat – is to be examined by a United Nations expert.
Baskut Tuncak, a UN special rapporteur, will assess the UK’s human rights record on the life cycle of hazardous substances and waste – from manufacturing to final disposal, and will present a report with his findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) later in the year.
He has previously been highly critical of the practice of manufacturing hazardous substances for export when they are banned in the country where they are made.
One such case is paraquat, one of the world’s best-selling weed killers, which is manufactured at Huddersfield in West Yorkshire yet has been banned in Britain and the European Union for years. Its sale and supply is also tightly regulated in the US, but it is widely available in many other countries where it is a common cause of poisoning.
Only a small amount of the substance in its purest form is needed to kill a human. Symptoms include vomiting, blistering, breathing difficulties and kidney and liver damage before a painful death.
A World Health Organisation report in 2000 estimated that paraquat was behind two million poisoning cases a year, with a fatality rate of around 10 per cent.
Tuncak said last month that the weed killer manufacturing would be one of the issues he would examine on his trip to Britain. He has already started examining practices that allow companies to make pesticides exclusively for use outside their borders, and said it was a potential human rights issue.
He said: “This is one of the quintessential examples of double standards. Paraquat is banned in the UK and the EU, but it’s still being used, and resulting in serious harms outside the EU where it’s being shipped.”
Harmful chemicals are regulated through an international treaty called the Rotterdam Convention, which meets every year to decide whether to add pesticides to a list that creating disclosure requirements for exporting countries.
A few countries automatically ban or restrict chemicals that are added to the list.
Tuncak has been invited by the UK Government, and will also meet representatives of various organisations and business communities in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and London.
“During my first visit to the UK, I will gather first-hand information on the state’s efforts to prevent exposure to hazardous substances and waste and ensure access to remedy for any harm caused,” he said. “Assessing the needs of the most vulnerable to hazardous substances and wastes, including workers, will also be an essential part of my visit.”
The human rights specialist will also examine toxic waste trade practices and trends, the role of industry, and the human rights implications of toxic air pollution.
“I will pay particular attention to identifying the legislative and institutional frameworks governing toxic and other wastes management in the country, including in light of Brexit,” he added.
“I believe the visit will provide an opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue with the UK authorities and other interested parties at the national level about the human rights implications of sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste.”
He will deliver a press briefing at Westminster at the conclusion of his visit on January 31.
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