Air Passengers May Receive Spray Warnings : Health: Pena proposes a plan to notify American travelers of those countries that still mandate the use of insecticides aboard planes.

WASHINGTON — Airline passengers should be told if the country they are traveling to requires the spraying of insecticides while they are aboard the aircraft, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena proposed Thursday.

Pena asked foreign governments last March to reconsider the spraying requirements, and Mexico, Jamaica, El Salvador, Chile, Cape Verde, St. Lucia and Belize have dropped or plan to drop the practice.

But more than a dozen countries still mandate the spraying, and Pena said passengers should be informed before they make travel plans.

“We will continue to work with the State Department and international organizations to bring about a complete halt to this practice,” he said.

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The proposal would require U.S. and foreign carriers and travel agents to tell travelers before they buy tickets if the country they wish to visit requires that the aircraft be sprayed with passengers on board.

If asked, the ticket agent must also name the insecticide used.

The rule, which will be published in the Federal Register and subject to public comment, would only apply to the initial segment of flights leaving the United States.

Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Panama and Fiji only allow airlines to spray empty planes, the Transportation Department said.

Countries that still require spraying with passengers on board are Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Congo, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, India, Kenya and Kiribati, the agency said.

Also still requiring the spraying are Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, and Yemen, the department said.