Export of Endosulfan allowed

HIL to take the lead

The Supreme Court today ordered the export of technical grade (raw) endosulfan. The three judge bench comprising chief justice SH Kapadia, justice K S P Radhakrishnan and justice Swatantar Kumar passed the order on December 13.

The manufacture, sale, use and export of endosulfan was banned by the apex court on May 13 this year. On September 30, the Supreme Court had allowed the exports of endosulfan for which orders had already been received. In November, the respondents, that is the Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India (PMFAI), asked for permission to  export the remaining stocks of 2698.56 KL of formulations. They wanted to export it after making it into exportable form and repackaging them for exporters.

The Supreme Court has allowed that now. But the exports will be carried out the Hindustan Insecticides Limited (HIL), which is a government of India enterprise. It is for HIL to now decide on how much endosulfan they can export. The surplus amounts will then be exported by Coromandel International Limited and Excel Crop Care. The quantum of export will be decided by the HIL in consultation with the other manufacturers. No deadline has been set for this by the court. This order makes it clear that the court definitely is not in favour of endosulfan being used within India.