Fipronil is banned in Galapagos due to risk to its island ecosystem

The Biosafety and Quarantine Regulation and Control Agency for Galápagos (ABG) has prohibited the introduction, commercialization, use, and handling of products containing the active ingredient FIPRONIL throughout the province of Galápagos. The decision is detailed in resolution D-ABG-076-10-2026, published in Supplement No. 404 of the Official Registry on Friday, November 6, 2026, on page 15.

The regulation is not limited to finished agricultural pesticides: the official summary of the edition specifies that the prohibition covers “formulated products, raw materials, molecules, and any other substance containing the active ingredient FIPRONIL.” In other words, it applies to both ready-to-use products and the concentrated inputs used to manufacture or mix formulations within the archipelago.

The ABG is the entity attached to the National Environmental Authority based in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz canton, created by Executive Decree 1319, published in Official Registry No. 811 on October 17, 2012. Article 85 of the Organic Law of the Special Regime of the Province of Galápagos assigns it the competence to regulate and control biosafety and to prevent the introduction, movement, and dispersal of exotic organisms that pose a risk to human health, the economic system, and the agricultural activities of the province.

What is prohibited in the archipelago

Resolution D-ABG-076-10-2026 orders the prohibition within the province of Galápagos regarding four specific operations:

• The introduction of the active ingredient and any product containing it.
• The commercialization of those formulated products, raw materials, and molecules.
• The use and application in agricultural, livestock, or pest control activities.
• The management and handling of substances with fipronil by natural or legal persons.

Consequently, control shifts from the port and airport—the first line of inspection and quarantine exercised by the entity—to the entire internal supply chain of the islands.

Three active ingredients prohibited on the same day

The November 6, 2026 edition published a package of equivalent prohibitions signed by the same agency, which together cover three molecules widely used in pest control:

• D-ABG-074-10-2026, which prohibits products with CHLORPYRIFOS in Galápagos (p. 33).
• D-ABG-075-10-2026, which prohibits products with IMIDACLOPRID (p. 43).
• D-ABG-076-10-2026, which prohibits products with FIPRONIL (p. 15).

The three resolutions appear in the same Supplement No. 404, Year II, consisting of 65 pages, dated Quito, Friday, November 6, 2026; the first two were also disseminated in the Second Supplement No. 404 of that day. The fipronil resolution bears the electronic signature of the executive director of the ABG, Mariela Cedeño Gómez.

Who is affected by the measure

The impact falls on the actors who handle inputs for plant production and pest control on the islands: local farmers and producers, agricultural input stores and distributors, logistics operators who consolidate cargo to Galápagos, and technical or sanitary personnel who apply treatments on farms, nurseries, and management areas.

The prohibition leaves no room for the sale and use of the active ingredient, meaning that the substitution of formulations and the review of inventories become an operational obligation for those who worked with these products in Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Isabela, and the other inhabited islands.

The weight of the decision is explained by the framework in which the ABG operates: an insular territory where the introduction of a persistent molecule can disperse beyond cultivated areas and affect native and endemic species. By vetoing fipronil along with chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid, the agency closes three simultaneous entry routes for insecticides and reinforces the precautionary criterion with which the biosecurity of the archipelago is managed, whose economy depends as much on conservation as on agricultural and tourism activities.

Source: Official Registry, Supplement No. 404, Year II, Friday, November 6, 2026, p. 15 (official reference: D-ABG-076-10-2026).