The Supreme Court has permitted exports of 1,090 mt of unsold stock of endosulfan lying with Indian companies, under strict supervision of the customs department and environment ministry. A Bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia, while retaining its earlier order banning the use and production of the pesticide, said exports of the above quantity of the pesticide may be permitted to those countries from whom orders have been received by manufacturers.
The permission will help the manufacturers fulfill their contractual obligations while eliminating the product from the country. However, it clarified that exports should be confined to the manufactured quanity only and ?no manufacturer shall manufacture endosulfan in any form?.
It ordered that enough precaution be taken by the companies and customs and excise authorities in packaging the banned pesticide so that it could be safely exported.
Laying down the conditions for such export, the SC said each manufacturer/exporter would have to obtain certificate of registration for exports from the competent authority.
Besides, before actual export, the packaging will have to be done in the presence and supervision of jurisdictional commissioner of Customs or any officer nominated by him and higher officials from the insecticide board and the ministry of environment and forests, it said. The court also said all the conditions imposed by the expert committee appointed by it to explore the possibility of exporting the unused stock of endosulfan would have to be complied with by the manufacturers.
The court?s direction to the Centre came after the expert panel, while recommending export of insecticide on August 24, said the ?manufacturers and formulators have export orders of 1,734 mt endosulfan technical and 292.5 KL of formulation. Hence, these amounts can be exported?. The report said ?export can be made to all countries where the use of endosulfan is still permitted? and ?the conditions for the export are as per the current registration for export under the Insecticide Act, 1968?.
