ABSTRACT
Environmental issues have often played significant roles in United States-Mexico relations. This chapter reviews of United States regulatory efforts for hazardous and toxic substances on export policy; and focuses on regulatory efforts to control the export of these materials to other nations. Mexican governmental concern for environmental issues emerged in the early 1970s, primarily as a result of concern for air and water pollution. A far more complex issue is the use in Mexico of pesticides banned in the United States for use in production of vegetables and fruits. In 1978 the Subcommittee on Foreign Agricultural Policy of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held hearings on inspection standards of vegetables imported into the United States. One of the objectives of the US-Mexico Border Health Initiative is to alert clinics and doctors to the overt symptoms of pesticide poisoning.
