Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The Government of Mexico has banned 35 pesticides due to their high risk to health and the environment. The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Economy, Environment and Natural Resources and Health, announced the ban based on scientific evidence.
The last such ban in the country was 34 years ago in 1991 and included 21 active ingredients. “These substances are banned to prevent serious adverse effects on human health and the environment, many of which persist in nature and in human and animal tissues, and pass into the food chain, affecting other organisms,” the Government reported in a statement.
This first decree is part of a comprehensive national strategy aimed at ensuring the production of healthy and safe food and the protection of public health and the environment, in collaboration with the plant protection industry and producers.
It addresses public concerns about addressing the risks associated with improper pesticide use. The primary objective is preserving the health of agricultural workers and the general population, protecting the environment and promoting sustainable agriculture in line with global best practices and the standards of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The decree, which will be published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), requires the Federal Public Administration to revoke and refrain from granting authorizations, permits and registrations for the production, formulation, manufacturing, storage, import, transportation, marketing, distribution, use, application, and final disposal of 35 pesticides throughout the country.
“It was a commitment made months ago. The pesticides that will appear in the Official Gazette are banned in Mexico. Some of them are banned in many places around the world but there was no ban on their use here, pesticides that cause great harm to health and the environment,” President Claudia Sheinbaum explained Wednesday.
In coordination with the plant protection industry and the scientific community, national producers will be encouraged to access new pesticides with lower risks to human health and the environment at affordable costs, facilitating the adoption of lower-risk solutions by small and medium-sized producers.
This will seek to strike a balance between the goals of transitioning to healthy and sustainable agriculture and food, and the objective of Plan Mexico: increasing self-sufficiency and food sovereignty.
Mexico reaffirms its commitment to the population, as well as to the Binding International Conventions of Stockholm and Rotterdam, which aim to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants and hazardous chemicals subject to international trade.
The ban on hazardous pesticides aligns Mexico with the global trend toward a healthy environment and the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices. This policy reflects the Mexican State’s unwavering commitment to gradually eliminate substances that do not conform to the principles of modern and responsible agriculture.
Julio Berdegué Sacristán, the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, explained that the 35 banned pesticides include substances such as Aldicarb, an insecticide that causes health damage upon contact and Carbofuran, an insecticide banned in Canada and Europe.
The ban also includes Endosulfan, banned in 50 countries due to its significant effects on the physical development, nervous system and brain of infants and DDT, whose use is banned worldwide.
The 35 pesticides that are banned are 2.4 DB, Alachlor, Aldicarb, Azafenidine, Azinphos-methyl, Azocyclotin, Bioresmethrin, Bromuconazole, Captafol, Carbofuran, Carbosulfan, Chlordane and Chlorpyrifos-methyl.
As well as DDT, Diclofop methyl, Dinocap, Dinoseb, Disulfoton, Edifenfos, Endosulfan, Fenarimol, Fenitrothion, Fenthion, Fentoate, Flusilazol, Fosfamidon and Hexachlorocyclohexane, Hexaflumuron, Lindane, Metidathion, Fenbutatin oxide, Parathion ethyl, Quinalphos, Resmethrin and Trichlorfon.
He reported that the Mexican government will continue to promote actions to progressively eliminate substances that do not conform to the principles of modern and responsible agriculture. Therefore, a second group of these substances will be published for prohibition in 2026, while a third list will be published in 2027.
