ABSTRACT
The most comprehensive attempt to establish a framework of guidelines for the international trade in pesticides is found within the FAOs Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. The first organization to take steps towards establishing guidelines for international pesticide trading was UNEP. The establishment of the principle of prior informed consent (PIC) as an international rule was enhanced by GIFAPs acknowledgement of its legitimacy. PICs central role in an international pesticide trade regime was confirmed by UNCED, which included within its Agenda 21 Programme for Action a call for governments to participate in and implement the UNEP/FAO scheme. The drafting of a bill in the US during 1991-92 proposing to introduce export controls for pesticides raised alarm in the agrochemical industry and prompted GIFAP to take the extraordinary step of criticizing the bill on the grounds that it was contrary to the FAO Code of Conduct.
