{"id":4655,"date":"2022-06-09T14:00:04","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T06:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panap.net\/?p=4655"},"modified":"2022-06-09T14:00:04","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T06:00:04","slug":"430-civil-society-and-indigenous-peoples-groups-to-fao-council-end-partnership-with-pesticide-industry","status":"publish","type":"panap_updates","link":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/updates\/430-civil-society-and-indigenous-peoples-groups-to-fao-council-end-partnership-with-pesticide-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"430 civil society and Indigenous Peoples groups to FAO Council: End partnership with pesticide industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reminding the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of its obligations to uphold human rights, 430 civil society and Indigenous peoples organizations from 69 countries across the globe today called on the FAO Council to rescind the agency\u2019s partnership with CropLife International, the industry association representing the world\u2019s largest pesticide manufacturers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahead of the FAO Council\u2019s 170th session that begins on June 13, Pesticide Action Network (PAN) submitted to members of the Council a <\/span>letter<\/span><\/a> co-sponsored by 10 other global networks, and on behalf of the 430 organizations, urging it to take immediate action in the Council session.\u00a0 This demand builds on the ongoing concerns expressed by civil society and Indigenous People\u2019s organizations, and on recommendations made by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food during the Human Rights Council\u2019s 49th session, namely: \u201cto review the agreement with CropLife International with an eye to human rights concerns\u201d and \u201cto consider directing the Director-General of FAO to rescind the agreement.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In the letter, the 430 organizations expressed concerns about how CropLife member companies (BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corteva Agriscience, Sumitomo, FMC and Syngenta) have \u201cinterfered in national policy and exert enormous pressure on governments that take measures to protect people and the environment from pesticide harms.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 2020, the FAO signed a Letter of Intent with CropLife to cooperate on a broad range of areas, as part of the agency\u2019s Private Sector Engagement Strategy. \u201cFAO deepening its collaboration with CropLife International directly counters any efforts toward progressively banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides, as recommended for consideration by the FAO Council as early as 2006,\u201d the letter stated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership has been in effect for over a year and a half now, and FAO\u2019s efforts to push global action to phase-out and ban HHPs have ground to a halt,\u201d said Keith Tyrell, Chair of PAN International. \u201cAs the signers underscore in this letter, Member States and the FAO must promote agroecology, a viable approach for generating ecologically-based food and farming systems without the use of toxic pesticides.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The letter pointed out that FAO\u2019s own due diligence process indicates that companies involved in human rights abuses can be excluded from potential partners. The organizations assert that the \u201cuse of hazardous pesticides is inconsistent with the rights protected by the United Nations to: Health; Clean, healthy and sustainable environment; Safe working conditions; Adequate food; safe and clean water and sanitation; A dignified life; and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, women, children, workers, and peasants and other people working in rural areas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, a briefing report entitled <\/span>\u201cAddressing the Conflict of Interest and Incompatibility <\/span><\/a>of FAO\u2019s Partnership with CropLife International\u201d<\/span><\/a>–detailing the necessity to end what civil society and Indigenous peoples call the \u201cToxic Alliance\u201d between the FAO and the pesticide industry\u2013was submitted to the FAO Council by PAN and 10 other global organizations spearheading the campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A separate briefing report entitled <\/span>\u201cCorporate Capture of FAO: Industry’s Deepening Influence on Global Food Governance,\u201d <\/span><\/a>which featured contributions by PAN International, was also submitted to the FAO and Member States in time for the FAO Council session. The report highlighted the partnership with CropLife as among the case studies exemplifying the trend where corporations are being given increasing influence at the expense of states, small scale food producers, Indigenous Peoples and civil society. ###\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reference:<\/strong>
\nKeith Tyrell, PAN International Chair, keith@pan-uk.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Letter to the FAO Council<\/b><\/p>\n

English: <\/b>https:\/\/bit.ly\/LetterFAO2022<\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Spanish: <\/b>https:\/\/bit.ly\/CartaFAO2022<\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

French: <\/b>https:\/\/bit.ly\/LettreFAO2022<\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Briefing Report to FAO Member States: <\/b>https:\/\/bit.ly\/ToxicAllianceBrief<\/b><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reminding the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of its obligations to uphold human rights, 430 civil society and Indigenous peoples organizations from 69 countries across the globe today called on the FAO Council to rescind the agency\u2019s partnership with CropLife International, the industry association representing the world\u2019s largest pesticide manufacturers. Ahead of the FAO…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4657,"template":"","update_categories":[107],"class_list":["post-4655","panap_updates","type-panap_updates","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","update_categories-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates\/4655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/panap_updates"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates\/4655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"update_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update_categories?post=4655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}