A list of 25 countries or territories that require airlines to spray insecticides aboard planes arriving from the United States has been issued by Secretary of Transportation Federico F. Pena.
Pena said his department compiled the list and was making it public as a way of protecting travelers. He said the department would also propose a rule requiring travelers to be notified at the time they book a flight that the plane would be sprayed.The list of 25 places was compiled from direct government responses to inquiries and from information obtained from airlines that fly to the areas; the latter information has not been confirmed by the countries involved. The 25 are American Samoa, Argentina, Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Cape Verde, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, India, Kenya, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Seychelles, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Yemen. In addition, Australia, New Zealand and Panama reported they required spraying, but left it up to the airline whether to spray the plane while empty or do it with passengers on board. Since there is no approved spray for use in the United States, this results in spraying before arrival, while passengers are aboard.
The United States discontinued spraying 15 years ago because of fears that insecticides were dangerous to humans and doubts regarding its effectiveness. In a news conference last month, Pena said the United States would put the spraying issue on the agenda of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations organization, for its assembly in the fall.