Liability Arising From Import, Manufacture, Formulation and Utilization of Pesticides with a Review on Australian Regulations

Today, due to the increasing population of the world and the shortage of water resources and fertile lands, the use of fertilizers and pesticides to increase agricultural production per unit area, has increased dramatically. Despite the benefits of these compounds, they also have harmful effects on human health, agricultural products, and the environment. One of the important issues is the civil liability arising from these combinations. It seems that in the analysis of civil liability caused by fertilizers and pesticides, one has to lean towards strict liability and refer to the risk theory; because most people proceed to import, manufacture, formulize and use fertilizers, in form of large companies with the sole purpose of profit and gaining more interests. In addition, liability in this area faces serious challenges, because usually damages and losses caused by fertilizers and pesticides occur gradually and stealthily and have different causes; on the other hand, identifying the main cause and calculating the amount of damages are quite difficult. Legislating specific and effective regulations regarding import, formulization, distribution and utilization of fertilizers and pesticides, using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and paying special attention to biological pest control, developing organic farming and raising awareness and promoting activities among farmers, are some of the effective solutions in order to prevent and decrease damages caused by fertilizers and pesticides. Present paper tries to explore the foundations and conditions of civil liability regarding the matter, also studies the remedies and compensation possibilities and challenges ahead in comparison and in compliance with Australian regulations.