PRESS RELEASE
Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides
701 E Street, SE, Washington DC 20003
202-543-5450 (phone), 202-543-4791 (fax)
www.beyondpesticides.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jay Feldman
202-543-5450, info@beyondpesticides.org
April 8, 2002

Farm Bill Hides $250 Million in Subsidies for Pesticide Industry

Washington, DC - In a move that seeks to hide a $250 million subsidy for the pesticide industry, the Farm Bill now in conference incorporates a provision that waives fees earlier set by Congress to cover the cost of pesticide registration and safety reviews. The provision, contained in Subtitle D of the massive Senate Farm bill, fell below the radar of budget buster watchers when drafters included only a one-month authorizing period, thus enabling chemical industry backers to hide the bill's budgetary impact. Backers expect to extend the authorizing period for five years under the cover of frantic conference committee action in the final days of negotiation this week. "This is a travesty of the Congressional process and subsidizes an industry that produces hazardous pesticides that can be replaced by less toxic alternatives," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated a $250 million price tag for this provision over five years. "Taxpayers should not have to pay the pesticide industry's bills," said Mr. Feldman.

The provision at issue is Section 1041, Fees for Pesticides, and strikes fees to be collected under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. Ironically, President Bush's proposed 2003 budget reflects revenues generated from these fees that would be waived by the legislation.

Environmentalists charge that the same industry groups behind this provision helped to scuttle another provision in the Senate Farm Bill that would protect children from pesticides used in school buildings and grounds. The provision, the School Environment Protection Act, is contained in Section 1042 and had wide bi-partisan support when it passed the Senate in June, 2001, but was derailed in the House-Senate Education Conference by one vote when House Agriculture Committee members opposed the bill. "The chemical industry wants taxpayers to pay its costs to market the same pesticides that poison children," said Mr. Feldman.

Some farm state advocates for the chemical industry subsidy say that the legislation will control the cost of pesticides for farmers, a position that environmentalists challenge as flawed, given the limited impact of pesticide registration costs on industry profits. Environmentalists point to industry chief executive salaries as one of the biggest problems, citing chemical industry compensation and unexercised stock options for Monsanto, Down and Dupont (E.I.) de Nemours exceeding $20 million a year.

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