States must stop exporting unwanted toxic chemicals to poorer countries, says UN expert
GENEVA (9 July 2020) – The practice of wealthy States exporting their banned toxic chemicals to poorer nations lacking the capacity to control the risks is deplorable and must end, a UN expert said today, with the endorsement of 35 fellow experts of the Human Rights Council.
Last year, at least 30 States exported hazardous substances that had been banned locally because of health and environmental reasons to Latin America, Africa and Asia.
“The ability to manufacture and export toxic substances banned from use domestically is one, albeit large, element of how States have institutionalised externalities through discriminatory national laws and an outdated system of global governance for chemicals and wastes,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics, Baskut Tuncak.
The expert said that wealthier nations often create double standards that allow the trade and use of prohibited substances in parts of the world where regulations are less stringent, externalising the health and environmental impacts on the most vulnerable.