Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Pesticides and agrochemicals · United Kingdom · 1989–2026

Paraquat bans, UK production for export and Chinese exports

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 5 insufficient · 1 not measured · 3 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

Switzerland banned paraquat in 1989 and the EU withdrew its approval in 2007, while paraquat continued to be made in the United Kingdom and exported. Brazil and Thailand also moved to restrict it in 2017–2019.

2,771 tParaquat exported from the United Kingdom in 2023
All of it went to the United States; the UK exported 8,489 t of banned active ingredients that year, 98% of it Syngenta's (Unearthed, December 2024).

Status As of the latest dated item in the sources (Syngenta's March 2026 announcement): production due to end 30 June 2026 and sales by 31 December 2026; the EPA review of the Parkinson's evidence was under way.

What?
Paraquat, a herbicide banned in Switzerland and the EU, continued to be produced in the UK for export, and the sources report exports from China and the EU as well. Unearthed (Greenpeace)
Where?
Production in the UK; use in the United States and Brazil; bans in Switzerland, the EU and Brazil. Unearthed (Greenpeace)
When?
Swiss ban 1989; EU court ruling 2007; Brazilian ban 2017; UK export figures 2018 and 2023; Syngenta exit announced 2026.
Who?
Gained
  • Syngenta — Held about 40% of a global paraquat market of about US$1 billion in 2016 and made more than half of its paraquat sales in Brazil (Public Eye); 98% of the UK's banned-ingredient exports in 2023 were its products (Unearthed). Public Eye
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Farmers in Paraná, Brazil — Diquat poisonings rose from 1–3 cases a year to 9 in 2023; one small farmer was reported to have suffered temporary paralysis in 2021 after exposure to a diquat-based product made in the UK.
Why?
Public Eye and Unearthed attribute the trade to the fact that national bans cover domestic use and, in the Swiss case, do not directly cover production in other countries. Syngenta gave competition as the reason for ending Gramoxone. Public Eye
How?
Export approvals by UK authorities of paraquat mixtures; a Swiss export ban covering five pesticides from 2021. Public Eye
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Switzerland, where Syngenta has its headquarters, has banned paraquat since 1989. On 11 July 2007 the EU's Court of First Instance annulled the EU approval of paraquat in a case brought by Sweden and supported by Denmark, Austria and Finland. The court held that the approval process had not sufficiently examined the link with Parkinson's disease.

In September 2017 Brazil's health surveillance agency ANVISA banned paraquat with a three-year transition. According to Public Eye, Brazil was the largest consumer: Syngenta made more than half of its paraquat sales there and held 40% of a global market of about US$1 billion in 2016. The agriculture ministry and the farm caucus in the legislature pressed for the ban to be reversed.

Public Eye reported that UK authorities approved exports of more than 28,000 tonnes of paraquat mixtures in 2018. Unearthed reported that in 2023 the UK exported 8,489 tonnes of banned active ingredients, 98% of them Syngenta's, including 2,771 tonnes of paraquat, all sent to the United States, and that the UK had given no commitment to limit this trade. In October 2020 the Swiss Federal Council banned the export of five pesticides banned in Switzerland, paraquat among them, from 2021; Public Eye said that because most of Syngenta's hazardous pesticides are made in the UK, China and the US, the ban does not directly cover that production.

In the United States the EPA's 2021 interim decision had found the evidence for a Parkinson's link insufficient, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation and others challenged it. On 17 January 2025 the EPA said it wanted to withdraw the decision and request more data; the challengers said they could not wait four more years. Use remained permitted in the US while the review continued. On 3 March 2026 Syngenta announced that it would end production of Gramoxone on 30 June 2026 and sales by 31 December 2026 at the latest.

Paraquat is banned in more than 70 countries. In Paraná, Brazil, poisonings from diquat, which partly replaced paraquat there, rose from 1–3 cases a year to 9 in 2023.

  1. 1989Switzerland bans paraquat
  2. 2007EU Court of First Instance annuls the EU approval of paraquat (11 July)
  3. 2017ANVISA bans paraquat in Brazil with a three-year transition (September)
  4. 2018UK authorities approve export of more than 28,000 t of paraquat mixtures (Public Eye)
  5. 2020Swiss Federal Council bans export of five domestically banned pesticides from 2021 (October)
  6. 2023UK exports 8,489 t of banned active ingredients, including 2,771 t of paraquat, all to the US
  7. 2025EPA says it wants to withdraw its 2021 interim decision and request more data (17 January)
  8. 2026Syngenta announces end of Gramoxone production (30 June) and sales (31 December) (announced 3 March)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Does the Swiss export ban reach Syngenta's paraquat?
Government and regulators
Swiss Federal Council

Banned from 2021 the export of five pesticides banned in Switzerland, including paraquat.

Public Eye
Communities and civil society
Public Eye

Because most of Syngenta's hazardous pesticides are made in the UK, China and the US, the ban does not directly cover that production.

Public Eye
Should Brazil's 2017 paraquat ban stand?
Government and regulators
ANVISA, Brazil

Banned paraquat in September 2017 with a three-year transition.

Public Eye
Government and regulators
Brazilian agriculture ministry and legislative farm caucus

Pressed for the ban to be reversed.

Public Eye
Is the evidence for a Parkinson's link sufficient to act on?
Courts
EU Court of First Instance

Held in 2007 that the approval process had not sufficiently examined the link with Parkinson's disease.

Public Eye
Government and regulators
US EPA

Its 2021 interim decision found the evidence insufficient; on 17 January 2025 it said it wanted to withdraw that decision and request more data.

Communities and civil society
Michael J. Fox Foundation and others

Challenged the 2021 decision; said they could not wait four more years.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Syngenta announced it would end Gramoxone production on 30 June 2026 and sales by 31 December 2026 at the latest; the stated reason was competition.
    Syngenta, 3 March 2026

Recorded

  • In 2023 the UK exported 8,489 tonnes of banned active ingredients, 98% of them Syngenta's; 2,771 tonnes of paraquat, all to the United States.
    Unearthed (Greenpeace)
  • The Swiss export ban of 2021 does not directly cover Syngenta production in the UK, China and the US, according to Public Eye.
    Public Eye
  • Diquat poisonings in Paraná, Brazil, rose from 1–3 cases a year to 9 in 2023.
  • EU-wide, approved exports of pesticides banned for use in the EU were about 122,000 tonnes in 2024, up from 81,000 tonnes in 2018; 75% of destination countries were low- or middle-income (Public Eye, September 2025).
    Public Eye

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Global paraquat market, 2016 (Syngenta share about 40%)≈ $1bn
Figure from Public Eye (2017); Brazil accounted for more than half of Syngenta's paraquat sales.
Currency: USD · Window: 2016. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Syngenta (3 March 2026): Announced it would end Gramoxone production on 30 June 2026 and sales by 31 December 2026 at the latest; the stated reason was competition.
  • UK government (2024): Had given no commitment to limit the trade in banned pesticides, according to Unearthed. · Unearthed (Greenpeace)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2007-07-11Claimant won
    Sweden v. EU approval of paraquat
    Court of First Instance of the European Communities · International court · Sweden (supported by Denmark, Austria, Finland) →

    The court annulled the EU approval of paraquat, holding that the approval process had not sufficiently examined the link with Parkinson's disease. Public Eye

  2. Ongoing
    Michael J. Fox Foundation and others v. EPA (paraquat interim decision)
    United States · Administrative · Michael J. Fox Foundation and others → US Environmental Protection Agency

    The challengers contested the EPA's 2021 interim decision that found Parkinson's evidence insufficient. On 17 January 2025 the EPA said it wanted to withdraw the decision and request more data.

  3. 2026-06-25Defendant wonUSD m 1.25m Verdict reversed (as stated: USD 1.25 million)
    Monsanto v. Durnell
    US Supreme Court · Appeal · Durnell → Monsanto

    By 7 to 2 the court held that the federal pesticide statute (FIFRA) bars state suits demanding a cancer warning that is absent from the EPA-approved label. The sources reviewed treat the ruling as relevant to pesticide suits generally; they do not say it was a paraquat case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Paraquat exported from the UK
2,771 t
2023; all to the United States (Unearthed)
Countries banning paraquat
70+
As stated in the sources reviewed
Environmental measurements
None in sources
The sources reviewed record human-health findings and trade volumes, not measurements in soil, water or wildlife

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsCase pending / contestedNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Does the Swiss export ban reach Syngenta's paraquat?
  • Disputed Should Brazil's 2017 paraquat ban stand?
  • Disputed Is the evidence for a Parkinson's link sufficient to act on?

Record

  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: China banned domestic use of paraquat in 2016 while production for export continued; a market research firm put Chinese capacity at 105,000 tonnes a year in 2009, with more than 80% exported.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a reports of a WUFT report (April 2026) said China and South Korea ban paraquat at home and sell it to the United States, about 78 million pounds in one year, with Sinochem International among the exporters.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: ChemChina bought Syngenta in 2017 for about US$43 billion, and ChemChina and Sinochem merged in 2021 under a holding linked to China's state asset regulator.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Brazil's ban took effect in September 2020 with stocks usable until July 2021; Thailand decided in 2019 to ban paraquat, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, delayed two of the bans to June 2020 after a letter from a US Department of Agriculture official, and removed glyphosate from the ban.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Syngenta's Huddersfield (UK) plant would close with the Gramoxone exit and paraquat was under 1% of company sales; California's paraquat registration was cancelled in April 2026, with stocks sellable until 2028.
  • Unclear The sources reviewed record no ruling on the Michael J. Fox Foundation's challenge to the EPA's 2021 interim decision.
  • None on record A source reviewed lists a 2021 US settlement in which Syngenta did not admit liability (US$187.5 million), without stating what claims it covered; it is not recorded here as part of this case.

Did the harm stop?

Syngenta said production would end on 30 June 2026 and sales by 31 December 2026; other manufacturers' products and existing stocks are not covered by that announcement in the sources reviewed.

Who paid?

The sources reviewed record poisonings among farmers in Paraná, Brazil, linked to diquat, the product that partly replaced paraquat; they record no compensation.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Institutions

EPA
The US Environmental Protection Agency.

Science and environment

PFOA (C8) and PFAS
PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.
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