Three controversial chemicals should be banned by year’s end: Mananya
Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Mananya Thaiset on Tuesday revealed a plan to stop the use of three controversial agricultural chemicals – paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos – in Thailand. She said it was in motion and should materialise before the end of this year.
Talking to reporters at Government House before joining a Cabinet meeting, Mananya said a review of the Hazardous Substance Act and related regulations, including the zoning of areas in which such chemicals must not be applied, would be held on August 20. This was an urgent matter, so these three long-used chemicals should be banned before the year’s end, she added.
She expressed her personal view that paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos should be permanently banned, but that would require a study of related laws first.
Even though the three chemicals have proven to be highly toxic, contaminating the environment and the food chain and posing a severe threat to people’s health, they are still widely used in the country as the government hasn’t banned them yet, while many other nations have banned or at least regulated the use of the three chemicals.