Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- In a message dated 04/08/01 23:23:26 Eastern Daylight Time, Lahuelga writes: > Colombia Fumigation Debate Continues > > By ANDREW SELSKY > .c The Associated Press > > > BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Adding to the debate over the safety of a massive U. > S.-financed fumigation of drug crops, a British company confirmed Friday it > has stopped supplying an additive used in the herbicide, saying it has not > been properly tested. > > Planes contracted by the U.S. State Department have blanketed at least 123, > 000 acres of cocaine-producing crops with the herbicide glyphosate since late > last year. > > A Bogota judge, acting on complaints from Amazonian Indians that the spray > is harmful, last week ordered a halt to the fumigation of Indian lands in the > Colombian Amazonian region, but allowed other spraying to continue. > > U.S. officials have insisted the herbicide is safe. In much of the world, it > is sold as the common weedkiller Roundup, made by the U.S. chemical company > Monsanto. > > But the crop dusters had been using an additive called Cosmo Flux to make > the glyphosate less likely to drift in the wind as it floats down from the > planes, and to make it adhere better to the drug crops. Cosmo Flux uses a > substance called Atplus 300F, sold by the British company Imperial Chemical > Industries. > > Company spokesman John Edgar said his firm and the Colombian company > Cosmoagro, which produces Cosmo Flux, decided to withdraw use of the additive > from the fumigation campaign because of a lack of information about its > effects when mixed with glyphosate. > > ``We had not tested it for that purpose,'' Edgar said in a telephone > interview from London. > > A Cosmoagro official confirmed that Cosmo Flux was no longer being sold as > an additive for the fumigation campaign. > > U.S. Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment late > Friday. > > A Jan. 23 State Department report to the U.S. Congress indicated Cosmo Flux > was safe, saying ``all of the ingredients ... are acceptable for use on food > products when label instructions are followed.'' > > The head of the Colombian anti-narcotics police, Gen. Gustavo Socha, who > oversees the aerial spraying, said he was unaware of the development. > > ``No one has notified me that they're not going to sell us something,'' > Socha said in a telephone interview. > > Socha said other companies have offered to sell chemicals as part of the > fumigation campaign, adding: ``We have had absolutely no problem (with > suppliers) and I don't believe we are going to have a problem in the future.'' > > > AP-NY-08-03-01 2024EDT > ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
Colombia Fumigation Debate Continues By ANDREW SELSKY .c The Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Adding to the debate over the safety of a massive U.S.-financed fumigation of drug crops, a British company confirmed Friday it has stopped supplying an additive used in the herbicide, saying it has not been properly tested. Planes contracted by the U.S. State Department have blanketed at least 123,000 acres of cocaine-producing crops with the herbicide glyphosate since late last year. A Bogota judge, acting on complaints from Amazonian Indians that the spray is harmful, last week ordered a halt to the fumigation of Indian lands in the Colombian Amazonian region, but allowed other spraying to continue. U.S. officials have insisted the herbicide is safe. In much of the world, it is sold as the common weedkiller Roundup, made by the U.S. chemical company Monsanto. But the crop dusters had been using an additive called Cosmo Flux to make the glyphosate less likely to drift in the wind as it floats down from the planes, and to make it adhere better to the drug crops. Cosmo Flux uses a substance called Atplus 300F, sold by the British company Imperial Chemical Industries. Company spokesman John Edgar said his firm and the Colombian company Cosmoagro, which produces Cosmo Flux, decided to withdraw use of the additive from the fumigation campaign because of a lack of information about its effects when mixed with glyphosate. ``We had not tested it for that purpose,'' Edgar said in a telephone interview from London. A Cosmoagro official confirmed that Cosmo Flux was no longer being sold as an additive for the fumigation campaign. U.S. Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment late Friday. A Jan. 23 State Department report to the U.S. Congress indicated Cosmo Flux was safe, saying ``all of the ingredients ... are acceptable for use on food products when label instructions are followed.'' The head of the Colombian anti-narcotics police, Gen. Gustavo Socha, who oversees the aerial spraying, said he was unaware of the development. ``No one has notified me that they're not going to sell us something,'' Socha said in a telephone interview. Socha said other companies have offered to sell chemicals as part of the fumigation campaign, adding: ``We have had absolutely no problem (with suppliers) and I don't believe we are going to have a problem in the future.'' AP-NY-08-03-01 2024EDT
