TOPICS:
Making effective use of technical information; politics; overall approaches to the environmental policy-making process; applicable to land use and growth issues; written for the first party participant.
ABSTRACT:
Pesticides in World Agriculture: The Politics of International Regulation is an examination of the problem of pesticide use in agriculture and the difficulties of achieving international regulation of same.
Pesticides in World Agriculture: The Politics of International Regulation will be of interest to those who seek an understanding of the intricacies of international regulation of agricultural pesticide use. The text is divided into four parts, each addressing a general topic within the overall aim of the book. Following an introduction part one addresses regulatory politics and the international economy, and the political economy of pesticides. The bulk of this part is devoted to the latter with discussions of: the move from the chemistry of pesticides to the economics of pesticides, the research process and industrial structures, companies as political actors and industry and international regulatory politics.
The second part examines the Codex system for analysis of the residues of pesticides. The author carefully examines the Codex system followed by consideration of: scientific decision-making, the regulatory process, national and corporate interests, and the politics of residue. The middle chapter of this part addresses the registration of pesticides at the intersection of national and international levels. It opens with a discussion of the diversity in national regulatory systems. The author examines the case of 2,4,5-T, an herbicide used in the 1960s in Vietnam. He closes the chapter with consideration of the pesticides consultations of 1977 and 1982 and the politics of registration. The final chapter in this part offers an examination of the rational use of chemicals in the environment. Non-governmental networks, agro-chemicals and the UNEP, and the politics of rational use are discussed.
The penultimate part address the politics of regulatory unevenness through examination of: pests and pesticides in developing countries, the role of these countries in the international pesticide economy, the role of international agencies and agricultural modernization and integrated control. Practical consideration of these topics is offered in chapter eight in a discussion of the regulatory politics of Malaysia. The final part is an overview of pesticides and the politics of international regulation with focus upon: technology, choice and regulation; and regulatory functions and the pesticides regime.
Pesticides in World Agriculture: The Politics of International Regulation is a careful overview of the problems associated with the world wide regulation of pesticide use in agriculture.
T. A. O'Lonergan