Civil society groups from around the world have come together today to denounce the European Union’s toxic double standards. In a symbolic action in front of the European Commission in Brussels, campaigners returned 75 boxes - one for each pesticide active substance banned for use in the EU but still massively exported abroad.
The action was organised by the End Toxic Pesticide Trade Coalition, who represents over 600 organisations asking for an end to this toxic trade. [1] It follows a recent research by Public Eye and Unearthed, revealing that in 2024 alone, the EU exported almost 120,000 tonnes of pesticides containing these 75 hazardous substances that are too toxic to be sold or used within Europe due to their serious health and environmental risks. The figures show that this toxic business is growing, despite the Commission's pledge to put an end to it. [2]
The majority of these chemicals are exported to Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) with weaker protection laws. This EU double standard poses a threat to human rights. At the same time, the EU imports food grown using these substances, leading to exposure of EU consumers via residues in imported foods and also putting EU farmers in an unfair competition.
In 2020, the European Commission made a promise that the EU would “lead by example” and ensure that hazardous chemicals banned in the EU would not be produced anymore for export. “Five years have passed and we’re still waiting, while companies keep exporting these banned and hazardous chemicals to countries with weaker protection laws,” said Angeliki Lysimachou, spokesperson of the End Toxic Pesticides Trade Coalition.
“If these pesticides are too dangerous for Europeans, they are too dangerous for everyone,” said the coalition’s spokesperson. “The EU cannot continue to profit from poisoning communities and ecosystems elsewhere,” concluded.
In the days leading up to the action, organisations from 13 countries across five continents recorded themselves packing bottles of these EU-banned pesticides into boxes destined for the European Commission - as a global act of resistance against Europe’s harmful export practices.
Each of the 75 boxes bears the name of a banned but still exported pesticide and is addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, marked “Return to Sender.”
The End Toxic Pesticide Trade Coalition has carried out several actions to call for an urgent stop to these exports. In late June, we launched a Joint Statement in Brussels - co-signed by more than 600 organisations worldwide - calling for an immediate end to these unethical double standards. [3]
Return to Sender campaign: https://www.corporateeurope.org/en/2025/11/return-sender-videos-campaign
Contact:
- Dr Angeliki Lysimachou (PAN Europe), angeliki [at] pan-europe.info, +32 496 39 29 30
- Suzanne Serneels (Broederlijk Delen) , suzy.serneels [at] broederlijkdelen.be, +32 484 26 18 24
Notes:
[1] The End Toxic Pesticide Trade Coalition (in alphabetical order): ActionAid France, Broederlijk Delen, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), Child Rights International Network (CRIN), Dreikönig- saktion der Katholischen Jungschar (DKA Austria), Ekō, European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme (FNH), Foodwatch, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace EU, Humundi, Le CCFD-Terre Solidaire, Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe), Pestizid Aktions-Netzwerk e.V. (PAN Germany), Public Eye, Slow Food, Veblen Institute for Economic Reforms.
[2] Report by Public Eye and Unearthed, here. Interactive map here.
[3] Find the Joint Statement in EN, FR, SP, Ger, PT, NL, IT and Danish here.
