Cases / Pesticides and agrochemicals · United Kingdom · 2015–2024
62% of UK paraquat exports since 2015 went to poorer countries, analysis finds
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Switzerland banned the herbicide paraquat in 1989, while UK exports continued, and a 2022 analysis found that 62 percent of the 122,831 tonnes exported from the UK since 2015 went to poorer countries. The sources reviewed do not quantify the effect on wildlife, water or farm workers in importing countries.
What?
Paraquat exports from the United Kingdom and Switzerland, including exports to poorer countries.
Where?
United Kingdom and Switzerland, with exports to poorer countries
When?
Export figures cover 2015 to 2024; the Swiss ban dates from 1989; the EU court ruling from 2007. Public Eye
Who?
Gained
- Syngenta — named as the source of 98 percent of the 2023 banned-pesticide exports
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Export approvals and exports of banned pesticides; a 2007 EU court ruling annulled an approval.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Switzerland banned paraquat in 1989. Public Eye reported on 12 July 2007 that the EU court annulled the Commission's approval of paraquat after Sweden challenged it.
Unearthed reported on 8 December 2024 that UK export approvals for paraquat exceeded 28,000 tonnes in 2018.
Unearthed also reported UK exports of banned pesticides of 8,489 tonnes in 2023, 98 percent attributed to Syngenta, with all of the 2,771 tonnes of paraquat among them going to the United States.
A 2022 analysis reports that 62 percent of the 122,831 tonnes of paraquat exported from the UK since 2015 went to poorer countries.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2007-07-11Claimant wonSweden's challenge to the EU approval of paraquatEU court (court not specified in sources reviewed) · Administrative · Sweden → European Commission
The EU court annulled the Commission's approval of paraquat on Sweden's challenge, Public Eye reported on 12 July 2007. Public Eye
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The name and authors of the 2022 analysis, and where it was published, are not stated in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not give paraquat exports by destination country for 2015 to 2024.
- None on record The sources reviewed give the Swiss ban only as a year; its scope, including whether it covered exports, is not stated.
- Unclear Whether the 2007 ruling applied to exports is not stated in the sources reviewed.
- None on record Health and environmental effects in importing countries are not stated in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Communities and civil society
- EU court reins in Syngenta; the beginning of the end for paraquatPublic Eye · 2007-07-12
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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- European Commission (Public authority) — here: Institution whose paraquat approval the EU court annulled; there: Made the 2020 pledge; reported to have withdrawn it in 2026
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- AdBlue cartel (Daimler, BMW, VW) Germany · 2009–2014
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- Bou Craa phosphate mine and Morocco green hydrogen in Western Sahara Western Sahara (controlled in large part by Morocco) · 1975–2026
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- Chlorothalonil metabolites in Swiss groundwater Switzerland · 1970–2020
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- European Commission (Public authority) — here: Institution whose paraquat approval the EU court annulled; there: Approved the German compensation payment to RWE (13 December 2023)
- Paraquat bans, UK production for export and Chinese exports United Kingdom · 1989–2026
- Syngenta (Company) — here: Paraquat producer named in the 2023 UK export figures; there: Producer; made paraquat for export in the UK
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- Syngenta (Company) — here: Paraquat producer named in the 2023 UK export figures; there: settling defendant; company behind internal communications
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- Syngenta (Company) — here: Paraquat producer named in the 2023 UK export figures; there: Producer of paraquat and diquat; settled the lawsuits
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- Syngenta (Company) — here: Paraquat producer named in the 2023 UK export figures; there: Paraquat producer; announced Gramoxone phase-out
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