ABSTRACT
The seven issue systems that are isolated for analysis clearly overlap, both in terms of the actors to whom the issues are salient and, in some cases, the policy questions. Governments and specific pressure and interest groups such as the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) and the Global Crop Protection Federation (GCPF), have an interest in all pesticide issues. The agrochemical industry, which is the driving force behind moves to empower the Codex Alimentarius Commission with supranational authority in pesticide residue legislation, is not a hegemon in terms of the international system as a whole. Scientific politicking is a feature of all seven issues in international pesticide politics. The issues of human poisoning, environmental pollution and food contamination are all conspicuous for a lack of epistemic consensus. The USs capabilities, even when considered purely within the confines of individual issues such as international aviation and food contamination by pesticides, may still represent an inaccurate guide to its level of influence.
