The International Union of Food workers(IUF), a global federation of trade unions, has urged India to support the ban on the toxic insecticide Endosulfan.
Briefing the media after a three-day Asia-Pacific regional meeting of agricultural and plantation trade unions here in the southern Indian state of Kerala, IUF regional secretary Ma Wel Pin urged India to support the inclusion of
Endosulfan in the Stockholm Convention, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from toxic chemicals.
"We would like to impress upon India to recognise its role as a global steward and take a firm position on this issue,"he said.
He also wanted strict laws to curb use of chemical pesticides based on 'polluter-pay' concept.
"There are strong evidences that pesticides are fundamentally negative.There is no point in denying it," he said.