Call to halt export of UK-banned chemicals
PROTEST AT HUDDERSFIELD PLANT
A PEACEFUL demonstration was held outside Syngenta’s chemical factory in Huddersfield to protest the UK Government’s policy on toxic chemicals.
The Landworkers’ Alliance, a UKbased union representing agroecological, regenerative practices in farming and forestry, held the demonstration on Leeds Road on Saturday to protest the UK Government’s alleged double standards in permitting the manufacture and export of toxic chemicals that are banned for use in the UK.
People dressed in hazmat suits and local farmers with wheelbarrows and farming equipment protested to show solidarity with farmers, landworkers and food producers across the world who are suffering the impacts of these deadly pesticides.
The alliance says the toxic herbicide Paraquat was banned for use in the UK in 2007 due to the danger it poses to human health and the environment, but it is still manufactured in Huddersfield by chemical giant Syngenta and makes up the majority of the UK’s banned pesticide exports.
Jyoti Fernandes, Policy and Campaigns Coordinator from the Landworkers’ Alliance, said: “We desperately need to stop these double standards in trade and trade deals which allow the UK to export deadly chemicals, endangering human and environmental health, then import back the produce covered in these poisons.
“We want the Department of International
Trade to create trade rules to stop the export of paraquat and other toxic pesticides prohibited for use in the UK and to stop the import of agricultural products produced with these pesticides. We also want the Health and Safety Executive to enforce existing trade rules related to banned pesticides.”
The alliance says Paraquat is still sold to countries including India, Brazil, Australia and the U.S., endangering the health of farmers and food producers who use it. It is not the first time the plant has been targeted by protesters, with several such demonstrations held there over the last few years.
A spokesman for Syngenta said: “Public safety and the wellbeing of our employees is always our primary concern. Syngenta’s Huddersfield manufacturing facility produces several regulated and licensed agrochemical products that help protect plants and support farmers across the world.
“This is critically important work and these products play a fundamental role in ensuring efficient land use, delivering dependable yields, improving food safety and supporting sustainable, productive agriculture and rural livelihoods worldwide.
“To ensure that our compounds meet our stringent production standards and have the highest quality, we produce in only a few places around the world from where we export to more than 90 countries. The high-tech UK production plant at Huddersfield is one of these global centres of excellence with a proven track record and decades of experience.”