Thailand’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Mananya Thaiseth on August 9 ordered the Department of Agriculture to put the brakes on licence extensions for hazardous farm chemicals, and vowed to ban three substances by the end of this year.
Farmers spray chemicals on a rice paddy in Ayutthaya.(Photo: bangkokpost.com)
Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Deputy Agriculture Minister MananyaThaiseth on August 9 ordered the Department of Agriculture to put the brakes onlicence extensions for hazardous farm chemicals, and vowed to ban threesubstances by the end of this year.
She affirmed the determination to ban the three chemicals, namely paraquat,glyphosate and chloropyrifos, within the year, as well as find alternatives to replacethe trio.
“Toxic farm chemicals are in the food we eat, and enter into the water, soiland environment”, she told the media.
She said she will inspect stockpiles of hazardous chemicals and lead a meetingon August 20, which is expected to pave the way for the ban on these threechemicals.
Thai consumers and the Ministry of Public Health have campaigned for theprohibition of these chemicals, citing their harmful health effects.
In 2017, the Ministry of Public Health pushed forthe national committee overseeing the import and use of hazardous chemicals toban the weed killers from January this year after academics reported they couldhave a harmful impact on human health. However, the panel still permits thelimited and supervised use of the chemicals.
The Department of Agriculture has set a two-year time frame to study possiblealternatives to the chemicals. It reportedly said that a ban would only beconsidered if restrictions on the use of the chemicals prove to be ineffective.
The latest study released early this month by the National Health SecurityOffice showed that around 3,000 people were exposed to hazardous farm chemicalsannually over the past four years, requiring at least 20 million THB (660,000USD) each year in medical treatment costs.
Information collected from patients using the 30-THB universal health carecards from October last year to July 17 showed 3,067 patients had been admittedto hospitals due to illnesses caused by exposure to the chemicals, 407 of themdied.
The weed killers paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos have been widely used byfarmers in Thailand. Paraquat, in particular, has already been banned in 53countries due to concerns over its health impacts. The other two are not bannedbut have seen their use restricted in several countries.-VNA
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Farmers spray chemicals on a rice paddy in Ayutthaya.(Photo: bangkokpost.com) 
