Business Ethics and Values Case Study: Exporting Poison Analysis

This case study analyzes the unethical practice of exporting banned toxic pesticides from the US to developing countries. The assignment examines the use of chemicals like chlordane, metribuzin, and alachlor, which are strictly prohibited in the US and other developed nations, yet are exported for various purposes, including agricultural use, with devastating health and environmental impacts. It explores ethical issues, including the lack of proper labeling and the exposure of vulnerable populations, particularly children, to these dangerous chemicals. The study applies ethical theories such as utilitarianism, categorical imperative, and deontological ethics to evaluate the actions of pesticide manufacturing companies and the US government. The case study recommends the implementation of a code of conduct, ethical leadership, consequences for unethical practices, and empowerment of employees and buyers to mitigate the negative consequences and promote ethical business behavior. The importance of proper labeling and government regulations on pesticide exports is emphasized.

Running Head: Business Ethics and Values
Case study: On the edge Exporting Poison

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PART 1
Introduction
This article illustrates the rampant use of toxic chemical pesticides in the developing
countries which are mostly exported from the various companies of America. Although the use
of toxic chemicals such as chlordane, metribuzin, alachlor etc are strictly banned for usage in
America almost twenty years ago and other developed countries. It is therefore evident that these
companies are following unethical means in running their business.
Ethical issues
Many of these chemicals are used in Africa to build roads, in Australia and other eastern
countries as rodent strays and is used as pesticides in some parts of Latin America. According to
WHO these chemicals are extremely toxic and can have severe negative effects on using it. So it
should be mandatory by the government to completely ban the use of these toxic chemicals even
for the exportation purpose. About 60 per cent of these chemicals is used for the agricultural
purpose in developing countries which are usually labelled as poison during exporting. But the
farmers distribute them in containers without any labels or warnings. The majority of the
working children generally work in agricultural fields and as per the number goes almost 80
million in Africa, 152 million in Asia and about 17 million in Latin America are exposed to these
toxic chemicals on a daily basis. Due to lack of education and basic knowledge, these farmers in
the developing countries are actually using poison in their fields which can have a devastating
effect if used for a long period of time. In the developing countries these poisoned labelled
chemicals are distributed in small containers without the label and the farmers are getting
exposed to these toxics unknowingly. As per the moral ethics, the government should take
immediate actions against the exportation of such chemicals in the developing countries.
Theories
It has been seen that the US is the leading nation with respect to the exportation of pesticides
in the Third World countries or the developing countries. On an average, it is seen that the US
companies almost export 45 tons of pesticides each hour and among those pesticides, a majority
of them contains harmful chemicals that have got serious environmental as well as health

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hazards. In this case, the normative theories of ethics will help to discuss the ethical issues in this
case. Some of the theories are mentioned as follows:
 Utilitarianism: The theory emphasizes the common sense and helps in determining what
is right and wrong by cost-effective analysis. In other words, it is very important to
understand the consequences whether it be good or bad before deciding to choose an
action (Van Staveren, 2007). It is the responsibility of the managers of these pesticides
manufacturing companies to understand the impact of their business on mainly the third
world countries. Utilitarianism always encourages fair business practices and believes in
the fact that it is wrong to harm others for the benefit of oneself (Playford et al. 2015).
The companies need to do research and see the impacts of their pesticides on the
environment and health before exporting them. This will not only help these companies
to run business in a proper and ethical way but it will also help in taking care of the
environment from the use of chemical pesticides as well as save the people from the
harmful effects of these chemicals.
 Categorical Imperative: According to Jacobs and Huldtgren (2018), it is our duty to
behave in such a way that it is not just rational to ourselves but to all the people around
us. So, in this case, it is obvious for the US companies manufacturing pesticides to only
export those pesticides that are used in the country. It is ethically incorrect to export
pesticides by putting a manipulating label which then severely impacts on the health of
the people using it. It is very much essential for the government of the USA to regularize
the exportation of the chemical pesticides into other countries especially the third world
countries. In other words according to Browning (2015), it is the duty to behave in a
rational way so only those fertilizers or pesticides should be allowed to leave the country
that actually can pass the standards of USA.
 Deontological ethics: It is basically a moral theory that defines the morality of an action
based on whether the action itself is right or wrong under the series of rules rather than
deciding the morality of the work based on the consequences of the action. In this case, it
is noticed that several US companies are exporting almost 45 tons of chemical pesticides
in the Third World countries which contains a number of hazardous chemicals such as
chlordane, alachlor, metribuzin and some others. These chemicals are very toxic and have
got adverse effects on the lives of the people using it and even on the environment. All

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these chemical fertilizers are actually banned in the United States of America despite that
they are exported in the developing countries. The farmers in the developing countries are
using these pesticides unethically by distributing the poison tagged pesticides in small
plastic containers without labels and they are buying poison unknowingly.
Discussion
As per my opinion, it is very much unethical and morally incorrect to export those
chemical pesticides that are banned in the United States of America to other third world
countries. Just because those countries do not have as much money or power as compared to the
developed countries does not give them the right to export those chemicals that can affect the
health and lives of the people living in those third world countries. As it is seen that the majority
of these chemicals are used for the agricultural purpose which are sold unethically without the
proper label of poison in it leading to direct exposure to these toxic chemicals for the children
working in those farms. These chemicals can contaminate the soil as well as the fresh water
sauces with the harmful chemicals leading to various diseases such as neurological disorder,
methemoglobinemia and cancers.
PART 2
Recommendations
In this case, it is seen that during 1997 – 2000 the US companies have exported over 65
million pounds of pesticides that are severely restricted or banned in the USA. These pesticides
contain extremely hazardous chemicals such as captafol, ISAF's and many others that might have
a serious impact on the environment as well as to the health of the people using it. The managers
of the organization who despite being aware of the negative impact of these pesticides continued
exporting them mainly to the third world countries are the main culprits in this case. Besides the
managers of the government officials in charge of exportation is also responsible for exporting
these hazardous chemical pesticides in other countries. The organizations need to do research
and see the effects of their pesticides on the earth and wellbeing before exporting those (Speklé

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et al. 2017). These pesticides over long use can result in completely destroying of the soil due to
acidification and can even contaminate ground water. This won't just assistance these
organizations to run business in a legitimate and moral way yet it will likewise help in dealing
with the earth from the utilization of compound pesticides just as spare the general population
from the hurtful impacts of these synthetic chemicals. It is the obligation to carry on in a sound
manner so just those manures or pesticides ought to be permitted to leave the nation that really
can pass the measures of USA (Jacobs and Huldtgren, 2018). The government should completely
ban the use of these toxic chemicals even for the exportation purpose. So in order to reduce this
kind of unethical business practices the government, as well as the managers of the organization,
can consider in following the below-mentioned points:
 Creating a code of conduct: The US government has to ensure the implementation of
certain rules or regulations that will ensure the banning of hazardous chemicals in the
pesticides (Tourani et al. 2017). All the companies producing these pesticides and
exporting them in various countries have to follow the mentioned code of conduct.
 Ethically correct leader: Employees to follow whatever their leader takes action. So,
as a result, an ethically correct leader will ensure that the organization is following
their ethics and morals while doing their work (Speklé et al. 2017). Thus it will also
ensure the reduction of using toxic chemicals for the pesticides that are exported.
 Reinforce consequence for unethical business practices: It is also the duty of the US
government to make sure that all the companies producing these pesticides should
stop the use of chemical pesticides (Browning, 2015). If any company is found not
following the regulations and using hazardous chemicals has to face severe
consequences which might even include shutting down of the whole organization.
 Empowering employees and buyers: The employees working in these companies must
have a clear vision of what is ethically correct so that they can spot unethical
practices and take the necessary steps to stop those (Speklé et al. 2017). Users should
be made aware of the presence of toxic chemicals by proper labelling in the bottles.

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References
Browning, N., 2015. The ethics of two-way symmetry and the dilemmas of dialogic
Kantianism. Journal of Media Ethics, 30(1), pp.3-18.
Jacobs, N. and Huldtgren, A., 2018. Why value sensitive design needs ethical
commitments. Ethics and Information Technology, pp.1-4.
Playford, R.C., Roberts, T. and Playford, E.D., 2015. Deontological and utilitarian ethics: a brief
introduction in the context of disorders of consciousness. Disability and rehabilitation, 37(21),
pp.2006-2011.
Speklé, R.F., van Elten, H.J. and Widener, S.K., 2017. Creativity and control: A paradox—
Evidence from the levers of control framework. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 29(2),
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Tourani, P., Adams, B. and Serebrenik, A., 2017, February. Code of conduct in open source
projects. In 2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and
Reengineering (SANER) (pp. 24-33). IEEE.
Van Staveren, I., 2007. Beyond utilitarianism and deontology: Ethics in economics. Review of
Political Economy, 19(1), pp.21-35.