The use and manufacture of endosulfan pesticide (banned by court since May last year) may be permitted for two years to exhaust all stocks of the raw material, the Joint Expert Committee informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In its report submitted before a Bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and Madan B. Lokur, the committee said: “India is a signatory to the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and is committed to discontinuing use of endosulfan over the next five years. All countries which have banned endosulfan have a phase-out plan for its use in agriculture over two to six years. Such a plan has ensured that all stocks available in the country are utilised and exhausted completely within a desirable time frame.”