Breaking the Circle of Poison: EPA's Enforcement of Current FIFRA Export Requirements
![handle is hein.journals/gintenlr4 and id is 323 raw text is: Breaking the Circle of Poison: EPA's Enforcement
of Current FIFRA Export Requirements
ALICE CROWE*
It makes no sense to dump unsafe chemicals abroad, only to have them
show up back here in imported foods. This is the 'circle of poison'.'
I. INTRODUCTION
According to the best available statistics,' approximately 400-600 mil-
lion pounds of pesticides manufactured in the United States are exported
each year to foreign countries.3 U.S. pesticide export sales comprise
roughly one-quarter of the world pesticide market4 with the United States
being one of the top three exporters worldwide.5 An analysis conducted by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service reveals
that in 1989 total U.S. pesticide sales were $6.5 billion, of which $2 billion
* Senior Counsel, American Petroleum Institute; Environmental Protection Agency, Washington
D.C., 1984-1991 (Toxics Litigation Division, Office of Enforcement, 1989-1991); J.D. Catholic Univer-
sity, 1980; B.A. Florida State University, 1974. While at EPA, Ms. Crowe served as lead counsel
during the agency's export enforcement initiative beginning in January, 1990. This article was written
during Ms. Crowe's tenure at the agency, but reflects the views and opinions of Ms. Crowe and does
not necessarily represent EPA's position on these matters. The author expresses appreciation to
Michael J. Walker, EPA Enforcement Counsel, Toxics Litigation Division, for his inspiration and sup-
port for this article.
1. Targeting Pesticide Exports, GREENPEACE, May/June 1990, at 23 (statement by Senator Pat-
rick Leahy (D-Vt.), sponsor of S. 2227, a bill introduced into the 101st Congress to ban the export of
pesticides already banned for use domestically). See generally Circle of Poison: The Pesticide Export
Reform Act of 1990, S. 2227, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. (1990), (amendments to the 1990 Farm Bill,
enacted as Pub. L. 101-623, now codified at various portions of 7 U.S.C. § 136) [hereinafter 1990
Pesticide Export Reform Act].
2. It is extremely difficult to obtain complete and accurate information on the quantity of pesticides
exported because EPA does not make public such information provided to it by pesticide producers. See
Exporting Banned and Hazardous Pesticides: A Preliminary Review, 9 FOUNDATION FOR ADVANCE-
MENTS IN SCIENCE AND EDUCATION (FASE) REPORTS 1, Winter/Spring 1991, at S-1 [hereinafter
Exporting Banned and Hazardous Pesticides]. See also Hearing Before Subcomm. on Int'l Economic
Policy and Trade of the House Foreign Affairs Comm., 102nd Cong., 2nd Sess. (forthcoming 1992)
[hereinafter Hearing Before Int'l Economic Policy and Trade Subcomm.] (testimony of Carl Smith,
FASE).
3. UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, PESTICIDES - EXPORT OF UNREGISTERED PESTI-
CIDES Is NOT ADEQUATELY MONITORED BY EPA, GAO/RCED-89-128, II (August 1989) [hereinaf-
ter GAO REPORT].
4. EPA's Pesticide Export Policy Review, 55 Fed. Reg. 4,956 (1990).
5. The United States shares this distinction with West Germany and Great Britain. See id.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/gintenlr4&div=17&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Breaking the Circle of Poison: EPA's Enforcement of Current FIFRA Export Requirements
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