Japan, China back India on endosulfan

India has earned key support from Japan, China, South Korea and Oman in its efforts to set aside a recommendation by a UN Environment Programme body to ban endosulfan. New Delhi got support from Bolivia too.

endosulfan, a chemical used widely in India as insecticide, has turned out to be a controversial subject within the country itself with Kerala taking the lead in seeking its ban. Under the Stockholm Convention, 172 countries have come together and are gathered in Geneva now to take a decision on banning endosulfan. The meet began on Monday and will go on till Friday.

The insecticide has to be declared a persistent organic pollutant (POP) before a ban can be clamped but already 60 countries, including 27 European and 21 African nations, have barred its use.

On Monday, India floated a draft paper demanding that the recommendation of a POP review committee, to declare endosulfan a pollutant, be set aside. It said the move to ban the pesticide was not based on facts and scientific criteria.

It also pointed out that chemicals suggested as alternatives to endosulfan showed POP characteristics, even exceeding that of the controversial pesticide. It argued that endosulfan's risk profile has not been prepared, while instead of arriving at a consensus, as is the norm, the review committee was attempting to take decision by majority votes.

Countries such as Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan wanted India to take off a paragraph from the draft paper that was also presented on behalf of the Asia-Pacific region. They objected to the paragraph mentioning that adverse health and environmental effects of endosulfan had not been established.

On Tuesday, India took the lead in insisting on a consensus on the endosulfan row. Japan joined it, saying that compliance with a ban decision without an implementation mechanism is not workable.

Further support came from Samoa, a small Pacific island country that has almost no stakes in endosulfan, and Cuba. They indicated that it will not be possible to accept a decision to ban endosulfan given the lack of clear evidence, decision by consensus and availability of affordable alternatives.

"The fact that the Stockholm Convention itself does not specifically contain a provision to offer financial or technical assistance was probably lost in the discussions,” said Mr R. Hariharan, Chairman of International Stewardship Centre, who is attending the meet as an observer.

India's share in the global endosulfan market is over 70 per cent with an annual production of 12 million litres valued at Rs 4,500 crore. The Indian industry claims that endosulfan is soft on pollinators such as honeybees and beneficial pests such as ladybird beetle while killing harmful ones and, therefore, there is no need for a ban.