Paraguay does not comply with pesticide control laws, expert denounces

The excessive use of agrochemicals in Paraguay is poisoning the country and seriously affecting the life and health of the people, affirmed this Friday the special rapporteur* on toxic substances and human rightswarning of the alarming increase in the use of these agricultural inputs and their impact on human rights.

After an official visit to Paraguay, Marcos Orellana said that although there are cooperatives that seek to work the land responsibly, the agro-industrial production model favored by the State has victimized communities by the incessant increase in fumigations aerial and terrestrial dangerous pesticides.

“In Paraguay pesticide control laws are not followed”, he warned and added that this generates impunity for the human rights violations and abuses of thousands of people exposed to toxic contamination.

Orellana explained that pesticides, also called pesticides, defensive products, agrochemicals, or agrochemicals, are one of the main environmental and human rights challenges facing the country.

It is a myth that pesticides are necessary

“I would like to emphasize, as several special rapporteurs have repeatedly done, that it is a myth that pesticides are necessary to feed the world. It is worrying to see Undue influence of companies in public policy on agrochemicals in Paraguay”, the expert pointed out in the final statement of his mission.

During his trip, Orellana observed that indigenous peoples and peasant communities are trapped in monocultures and other crops dependent on agrochemicals.

environmental injustices

“Those who oppose the contamination of their communities are often criminalized by the Public Ministry”, he denounced.

The expert stated that to these environmental injustices is added the large concentration of land in few handsand the consequent exclusion of large segments of the population, further aggravating the situation.

He stressed that although the right to non-discrimination is enshrined in the Paraguayan Constitution, this right is not a reality for the communities affected by pollution. “There is an urgent need for that the free and full exercise of human rights be respected and guaranteed against the threats posed by toxic substances in Paraguay, both by the State and by the companies involved”, he emphasized.

On the other hand, he stressed that the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development does not have the capacity to measure pollutants emitted into the air and recalled that the generation of information on the environmental quality of the air is the gateway for the design of an adequate environmental policy.

He explained, for example, that the Ministry does not monitor dioxins generated by tire incineration by cement plants, which are extremely dangerous for human health. “This creates a situation where companies self-regulate. The State should not in any way abandon its oversight role”, he pointed out.

State Responsibilities

Orellana called on the State to ensure that orders are complied with immediately of the Human Rights Committee on cases of Agua’ẽ Field Y Yeruti Colonyand to ratify the Escazu Agreement on environmental rights.

In this sense, he maintained that it is the responsibility of the State “to guarantee the Right to a healthy environment and protect its population from the indiscriminate effects of the use of dangerous pesticides in Paraguay”.

The expert also called on the international community to end double standards in the trade of dangerous pesticides that are prohibited in their countries of origin.

Orellana’s agenda in Paraguay included meetings with government officials, families of victims, representatives of civil society, the private sector and UN agencies. He also traveled to peasant communities and indigenous peoples in the departments of Presidente Hayes, Alto Paraná, Canindeyú, San Pedro and Guiará.

The special rapporteur will present his full report on Paraguay to the Human Rights Council in September 2023.

* The special rapporteurs are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name for the independent investigation and monitoring mechanisms established by the Council to address specific country situations or thematic issues around the world. The experts of the Special Procedures work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government and organization and act in their individual capacity.