Dear EU Heads of State and Government,
Ministries of Agriculture,
Ministries of Environment,
Ministries of Health
With this letter we, a coalition of Civil Society Organizations engaged in protecting human rights, human health and the environment, are asking you to give priority to the right of all human beings to live in a healthy environment and have a healthy future, inside and outside Europe.
In the European Union, the pesticides regulatory framework allows a certain level of protection to citizens' health as well as the environment. In addition, protective equipment is available and currently used by EU farmers and farm workers. In Low- and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), national regulations are less protective, while farmers and farmworkers often cannot afford decent protection against pesticides exposure. Furthermore, the presence of such pesticides in households leads every year to dramatic acute poisoning accidents, as well as to suicide. While Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) have been gradually banned in the EU over the last decades, they are still produced in the EU and exported to Third countries.
