Illegal International Trade of Hazardous Chemicals

New Zealand and the UN Rotterdam Convention

Photo by MUS LIHAT on Unsplash

Globally, pollution of our ecosystems from hazardous chemicals is increasing. Toxic pesticides are regularly detected in our food chain and drinking water. There are various national laws, conventions, treaty agreements and regulatory bodies that are designed to monitor, reduce and prevent contamination. But conflicts of interest and regulatory capture are common, so unsurprisingly there is little evidence, especially here in New Zealand, that these frameworks proactively protect the public from known (and unknown) health risks. In newly published international research, data from one of these agreements was analysed with some positive but also concerning outcomes.

New Zealand is a signatory to the United Nation (UN) Rotterdam Convention (1998). This agreement encourages formal exchange of information about specified hazardous chemicals, and prior informed consent (PIC). This means member countries determine if specified hazardous chemicals can be imported and information about public health risks are shared. From this data, toxicologists can learn more about the potential sublethal harms from these toxins.

On the surface, the Rotterdam Convention seems like a valuable contribution to environmental protection. However, its weakness has been discussed at length since its inception. For instance, a major contributor to pollution, the USA, is not a member - and although imports are audited, exports are not. Furthermore, the Convention is only voluntary, so any consequences for non-compliance depend upon reporting hierarchies and national laws. Although ‘Annex III’ specifies 54 hazardous chemicals (including 35 pesticides), those listed seem arbitrary in terms criteria. For example, whilst fluoroacetamide (1081) in included in the restricted list, the closely related (and arguably more toxic) sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) is not.

[To learn more about aerial poisoned-food bait using compound 1080 in New Zealand, click here.]

Until now, research examining the effectiveness of the Rotterdam Convention has been vague. Outcomes from the abovementioned recent research analysed thousands of UN records and found the PIC a useful tool to monitor levels of registered hazardous chemicals; trading in some toxins has reduced over time. However, researchers also discovered how ‘illegal trade was prevalent’. For instance, 64 megatonnes (million tonnes) of the toxic chemicals listed by the Rotterdam Convention were transported in the past 15 years, including at least 25 megatonnes of illegal trade. Over 14 kilotonnes (thousand tonnes) of well-known, largely banned ‘legacy’ chemicals, like tetraethyl lead and organophosphates were traded between member countries annually during this period. China was identified as a major exporter of hazardous chemicals (which is likely the main source of 1080 into NZ).

The New Zealand People’s Inquiry into the Impacts and Effects of Toxic Chemicals and Poisons on our People, Wildlife and Environment has collated shocking evidence that throughout the 65+ years of aerial spreading of 1080 in NZ, there have been hundreds (maybe thousands) of harmful consequences, including deaths. There is evidence of widespread, ongoing negligence and corruption within the poisoning industries which is not only confined to 1080 operations. Sadly, legal costs, gagging clauses, government propaganda and censorship regularly prevent the truth being exposed, especially in Government-funded media. The corporate playbook developed by the tobacco industry is well-rehearsed.

The researchers recommend that more hazardous chemicals are added to the existing Rotterdam Convention’s Annex, to provide deeper insight of global trading. But historically this has been a complex, bureaucratic and drawn-out process. Will the UN Convention Committee ever get to know about the decades of harm from New Zealand’s aerial poisoning operations and other chemical contamination of our ecosystems? This seems unlikely when even those hazardous chemicals already listed by the UN Rotterdam Convention only appear on reports if the NZ Government volunteers the information. But to end on a positive note, a new Convention Compliance Committee that could potentially deliver penalties for non-compliance was appointed last year, so changes maybe coming. One can only hope.

Further reading:

Eisler, Ronald. 1995. “Sodium Monofluoroacetate (1080) Hazards to Fish, Wildlife and Invertebrates: A Synoptic Review.” Contaminant Hazard Reviews 30. Patuxent Environmental Science Center U.S. National Biological Service. Laurel, MD 20708 USA: USA EPA.

McQueen, Fiona. 2017. The Quiet Forest. New Zealand: Tross Publishing.

Radio New Zealand. 2021. “Pest Company Fined NZ$275k for Exposing Employee to 1080 [Poison],” July 29, 2021. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/448012/pest-company-fined-275k-for-exposing-employee-to-1080.

Vallee, Manuel. 2023. Urban Aerial Pesticide Spraying Campaigns: Government Disinformation, Industry Profits and Public Harm. Abingdon, Oxon, UK.: Routledge.

Weaver, Sean. 2003. “Policy Implications of 1080 Toxicology in New Zealand.” Journ. of Rural & Remote Env. Health 2 (2): 46–59.