BRITISH CHEMICAL COMPANY ABANDONS PLAN COLOMBIA

British chemical company ICI has pulled out of Plan Colombia's
controversial fumigation campaign. The firm was supplying ingredients
for toxic chemicals used in the U.S.-funded aerial spraying of
coca-growing regions, but abandoned the scheme amid health concerns.
Local hospitals in the Putumayo region, where the coca fumigation is
taking place, have reported increases in skin rashes, diarrhea and
stomach aches (see "Death Falls from the Sky," April 30).

ICI was providing the Colombian company Cosmo Agro with gluey
soap-like substances that help herbicides stick to plants. The
Colombian government classes the chemicals made from ICI's ingredients
as toxic. ICI's own materials describe them as "irritants" and warns
against inhalation.

U.S. and Colombian authorities have played fast and loose about the
specific chemicals used in the fumigation scheme. In January, the
State Department claimed "the only chemical currently used for aerial
eradication is glyphosate." The U.S. Embassy in Bogota issues the same
claim. Glyphosate, made by Monsanto, is commonly known as Roundup.
However, the chemicals used are actually a toxic brew of Roundup Ultra
mixed with Cosmo Agro's product Cosmo-Flux, a compound that includes
ICI chemicals. The combined chemicals have not been tested for safe
use in crop-dusting by the Environmental Protection Agency or the
Colombian Ministry of Health.

ICI stated they were unaware that their chemicals were being sprayed
from airplanes in Colombia and claimed no knowledge of Cosmo Agro.
ICI suggested that there "may be some confusion" with an anti-fungal
they sell in Colombia that is used on banana crops.

However, after an investigation for London's Observer, this author
presented ICI with documents proving the use of their chemicals in the
coca fumigation campaign. The documents were obtained from Cosmo Agro
by Elsa Nivia of the Pesticides Action Network as part of her research
into the safety of the fumigation program.

Following an in-house investigation, in late June the company
confirmed that "Cosmo-Flux has been used as an additive to reduce the
amount of active ingredient used in spraying coca plants and to
prevent undesirable spray drift. However in light of concern about
spraying coca plantations, Cosmo Agro has committed not to sell
Cosmo-Flux for this application."

ICI was disparaging about the use of their chemicals in the fumigation
campaign, saying "it doesn't make any sense to us." ICI spokesman John
Edgar claimed "it's the wrong material" for coca eradication, and
using it "seems illogical." Edgar further stated that "Monsanto
wouldn't be very happy" about mixing the chemicals with Roundup as "it
doesn't square." He added, "Somewhere along the line something has
gone wrong."

The State Department refused to answer questions about the spraying
and referred In These Times to the U.S. embassies in London and
Bogota, where officials were unavailable for comment as the magazine
went to press.

The confusion about the chemicals used in the fumigation campaign, the
curious mix used, and the lack of testing suggests that the
crop-dusting procedure is unorganized, even chaotic. ICI's removal of
its chemicals from the spraying is a particular blow to Plan
Colombia's reputation, especially as the firm has supported
military-style fumigations in the past. (ICI supplied chemicals used
to defoliate in present-day Malaysia during the "Malayan emergency," a
British colonial "police action" of the '50s and a forerunner of the
American use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.) However, ICI is apparently
unwilling to tie its corporate reputation to Plan Colombia.

ICI's action is a vindication of Nivia, who has been critical of the
use of Cosmo-Flux in the fumigation. "Toxicological studies do not
exist on the effects of the mixture with herbicides," she says. "The
inclusion of these two additives was decided in an arbitrary way."

It seems that ICI finally came to the same conclusion as the opponents
of Plan Colombia.