Brazil illegal agrochemicals down 42%.

There was a 42% drop in the sale of illegal pesticides in Brazil last year, the national daily, Valor Economico, reports. The trade in contraband products reached $210 million in 2007, some $150 million lower than the previous year. The figures come from a study by the Brazilian agrochemical trade union, the Sindag. The union's first research on the trade was in 2005, when it found that such products accounted for 7.2% of all pesticide sales at $300 million. Illegal products made up 9.2% of the market in 2006. The trade's share of the 2007 market would have fallen to 4.2%, according to the Sindag's figures. It expects agrochemical sales for last year to have reached $5,000 million (Agrow No 530, p 18). Increased inspections and a deal with China on equivalency registrations have led to the fall.