BONN, Germany – A final workshop on the project “ Growing coffee without Endosulfan ” took place on October 17 in Bogotá during the international coffee fair and conference ExpoEspeciales. The workshop was held in collaboration with the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC).
The audience included 45 participants from various countries, representing producers, traders, roasters, NGOs, standards bodies, coffee associations, and science. PAN UK and P&A Marketing presented findings and recommendations from the global and the Brazilian project respectively.
Agronomists and coffee producers shared their interesting experiences and case studies in phasing out endosulfan from different country and production system perspectives.
To find out more about the conclusions and next steps of the Endosulfan Project go to the section pesticides of the 4C Association website.
The final conference workshop to present the results of the project “Growing Coffee without Endosulfan” took place during the international coffee fair and conference ExpoEspeciales in Bogota (Colombia) on 17 October 2013.
You can download the minutes and the presentations of the Conference Workshop on Endosulfan Project by clicking here.
Growing coffee without Endosulfan
Endosulfan, a broad spectrum organochlorine insecticide, has been listed by the Stockholm Convention as a persistent organic pollutant (POP) since 2011 and targeted for global elimination.
It is also listed by the Rotterdam Convention subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure. This is an important achievement in view of the risks of this highly hazardous chemical, and will trigger action and change at national governance level.
This also means that major sustainability standards, including the 4C Code of Conduct, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ Certified, which prohibit use of POPs and PIC-listed chemicals in their supply chains have a strong interest in promoting viable alternatives.
Continued endosulfan usage by farmers supplying according to these standards would constitute non-compliance with these standards and could lead to a withdrawal of sustainability licenses or certificates. There is a pressing need to identify viable and practical alternatives to the use of Endosulfan for coffee growers.
This is precisely the aim of the project “Growing coffee without Endosulfan“.
Source: 4C Association
