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500 signatures reached
To: Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, South African Department of Agriculture,
End the Double Standards: Ban Deadly Pesticides Already Banned in Europe
In 2019, Women on Farms Project (WFP) launched its Double Standards Pesticides Campaign which initially targeted the South African government, demanding that it ban 67 Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) already banned in the European Union. The EU continues to produce and export many HHPs to South Africa, even though these pesticides are banned for use on their own soil due to their harmful effects on human health.
In 2022, the Department of Agriculture announced its plans to ban certain HHPs by 1 June 2024. However, the most dangerous of these pesticides have still not been banned and are still widely used on commercial farms, causing respiratory problems, skin irritations, genetic mutations, cancer, damage to the reproductive system, and even death, in exposed groups like farm workers and dwellers.
Why is this important?
The Double Standards Pesticides Campaign calls on the South African government to ban all HHPs that have already been banned in the EU. The Campaign is important because tens of thousands of South African farm workers are impacted by exposure to these HHPs as they are often forced to work in vineyards and orchards while pesticides are being sprayed, and without the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE). This has resulted in the health of many farm workers being adversely and irreversibly impacted, affecting their quality of life and ability to work.
South African farm workers and dwellers need your support to exert pressure on Minister Steenhuisen to ban all HHPs already banned in the EU, in order to protect their health and wellbeing.