Renovating the management of pesticides in Vietnam

Because this is one of the important prerequisites for the management of pesticides in a methodical, regulated and strict manner, thereby helping the quality of Vietnamese agricultural products become more and more secure to access export markets with high value.

Item not recommended

First of all, it must be re-affirmed that pesticides are a commodity that is not recommended for business, because most of them are toxic substances that have the potential to directly or indirectly affect health.

However, due to the requirements on productivity, food production and food supply for humans, we are forced to use pesticides to limit the impact and influence of pests and diseases on crops.

From this problem, the State management agencies are required to issue legal documents on management, control, and strict inspection of pesticides. in order to prevent and promptly prevent the adverse effects of pesticides to human health, especially the prestige of Vietnamese agricultural products, when exporting vegetables and fruits each year contributes billions of dollars to the country's economy.

Therefore, the approval of the Law No. 41/2013/QH13 on Plant Protection and Quarantine by the 13th National Assembly of Vietnam, the promulgation of Decree No. 116/2014/NĐ-CP dated December 04, 2014 providing detailed instructions on the implementation of several articles of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine are indispensable for the sustainable development of Vietnam's crop industry now and in the future.

In terms of policy, it is humane and good, but the management and control of pesticides is not simple at all due to the fact that pesticide is a commodity subject to many regulations on regional and international trade and freedom, if not carefully reviewed, it can easily lead to overlapping with other regulations, especially in the context that the Government is creating all conditions for economic sectors to be allowed to do business in what the law does not prohibit.

Reasonable

Director of Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) Hoang Trung shared, in order to harmoniously solve long-standing problems in the plant protection industry, in the process of developing Decrees and guiding circulars, the Department of Plant Protection always closely follows and complies with the issued legal documents and international conventions that Vietnam commits to participating in order to best perform the assigned state management role, and at the same time avoid causing inconvenience and expense to enterprises.

The Department of Plant Protection conducts a series of innovative solutions in the current pesticide management. First, the Plant Protection Department applies regulations on the time limit and procedures for renewing the certificate of pesticide registration in Clause 3, Article 51 and Clause 4, Article 52 of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine with the extension of the certificate of registration of pesticides, valid for 5 years.

The time limit is just enough to not be too costly for enterprises, but it has the effect of deterring enterprises from voluntarily complying with regulations.

In particular, the Plant Protection Department resolutely eliminates drugs with acute toxicity of active ingredients or finished products in groups III and IV according to GHS; organochlorine group; having a quarantine period in Vietnam for more than 7 days to register for fruit trees, tea trees, vegetables or to preserve agricultural products after harvest.

Eliminating pesticides with acute toxic active ingredients of groups I and II; chemical pesticides are a mixture of pesticides with different uses (insecticide, herbicide, disease control, growth regulator) according to the schedule until August 01, 2017. This removal is in full compliance with international regulations.

Several new points

Another technical solution, the Plant Protection Department organizes a review of the situation of production, business, import-export and circulation on the market, clearly identifies pesticides registered in the List but not circulated, with low effectiveness, and reports to the Minister to propose appropriate management solutions.

Concurrently, adding specific regulations on the number of trade names of pesticides for each type of harmful organism, avoiding the situation that there are many drugs used for 1 harmful organism but there are harmful organisms that do not have drugs to control, especially emerging harmful organisms.

The Department also specifies the mixture of active ingredients for each type of pesticide. Clear regulations on the assessment of biological efficacy of tested pesticides. Gather information from countries and international organizations to provide scientific evidence about pesticides causing adverse effects on human health, livestock, ecosystems and the environment.

Fully supplement the active ingredients that do not have the minimum content as prescribed by FAO to prevent the units from taking advantage of the import of inferior quality drugs during circulation in the market. Adding specific regulations to the Process of removing pesticides from the List in Clause 2, Article 7 of Circular No. 21/2015/TT-BNNPTNT.

The Department of Plant Protection also collects and synthesizes information, establishes a Scientific Council to consider and advise on pesticides with scientific evidence that adversely affect human health, domestic animals, ecosystems and the environment; pesticides with low potency against harmful organisms to submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for removal from the List according to regulations.

Adding detailed regulations to the application appraisal process for the stage of licensing testing of pesticides. Amending and supplementing basic standards and technical regulations on bio-efficacy testing and isolation time of pesticides. Establishing a committee to evaluate applications for testing permits and operating regulations in a professional and democratic manner, limiting group interests when licensing.

On the one hand, setting up technical barriers in accordance with regulations to limit pesticides with high toxicity, the Department of Plant Protection encourages and creates maximum conditions for the application of biotechnology in plant protection to select, breed, imported plant varieties with high yield and resistance to pests and diseases; application of advanced technological lines to produce biological pesticides. Environmentally friendly pest control measures.

Source: nongnghiep.vn

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