By Wendy Anders

Costa Rica’s Ombudswoman, Montserrat Solano Carboni, expressed her concerns regarding proposed changes in pesticide regulations saying they were a setback for human health and the environment, her office reported yesterday in a press statement.

The Ministry of Agriculture came under fire for proposing the use of reference chemicals when registering pesticides. So, instead of providing information specific to the products entering the country, importers under the proposed regulations could submit information for related products. This mechanism has been previously called into question by the Comptroller General of the Republic, stated the ombud’s office.

Solano said that full product information on pesticides and their components to be used in Costa Rica is needed to conduct preliminary analyses on the quality and/or efficacy of the product, as well as to evaluate the products’ potential risks for human health and the environment.

The newly proposed regulations would grant a three-year trial period for the use of formulated synthetic pesticides. During the chemicals’ first three years of use, the Health and Environment Ministries would evaluate the effects of the pesticides to determine whether permanent approval be granted after the three-year trial.

The ombudswoman said this proposed timeframe was problematic because the ministries might not have the personnel or capacity to carry out such evaluations within the trial period; and secondly, that if the chemicals were dangerous to human or environmental health, that irreversible damage could occur within the three-year trial period.

The pesticide registration process thus would likely violate the universal precautionary principle that applies to human and environmental health.

The precautionary principle, said Solano, aims to prevent negative effects by understanding potential risk and mitigating or limiting those risks from the outset. She said that no pesticides should be registered if a potential risk to health of the environment exists.

“Full information on each product must be evaluated prior to registration not only by the Phytosanitary Service, … but also by the Ministries of Health, and Environment and Energy, whose judgment should be binding,” said Solano.