Three major disputes over herbicide spraying Hongdou 09 "fixing and killing weeds have not been resolved, and legislators, consumer groups and farmers have called on not to go back.

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The Council of Agriculture plans to open up the herbicide herbicide as a defoliant for red beans, which has been disclosed exclusively by "upstream and downstream" for more than a month. Although the Prevention and Inspection Bureau has explained to the public many times, it is still difficult to clarify the following disputes: first, EU officials have assessed that herbicide is not allowed to be used with high reproductive toxicity. Why is Taiwan more open? Second, how many farmers have the need to use herbicide to harvest red beans? Third, if imported red beans are not used to kill weeds, will Taiwan's open use have an impact on the industry?

The Prevention and Inspection Bureau of the Council of Agriculture held an expert meeting on the safety risk of herbicide yesterday (6). Most of the experts attending the meeting said that according to the briefing provided by the Prevention and Inspection Bureau and the Institute of Drug and Drug Administration, it would not increase the risk of environmental and food safety, but "there was a problem with risk communication." Zeng Dezhi, an honorary professor in the Department of Plant Pathology of ZTE University, held the opposite view, believing that herbicide has five risks, such as reproductive poison. The warning "will affect pregnant women and fetuses" should be added, and users should receive professional training before opening up.

Yesterday, the Housewives' Union Environmental Protection Foundation invited legislators, scholars, and farmers to hold a forum. Chief Executive Wu Bishang said that consumer health should not be given up because of the convenience of field management. Legislator Lin Shu-fen questioned that the government was clearly moving in the direction of "halving chemical pesticides in ten years," but announced the use of herbicides. "can this road continue?" Xiao Chenglong, the third monitor of the Meinong miscellaneous grain (red bean) production and marketing class, stressed that in the past few years, farmers have worked hard to cooperate with the government to change to a friendly way of deciduous leaves, and should not backtrack. Legislator Chen Jiaohua asked the Prevention and Inspection Bureau to hold a hearing within a month to release the test information for public inspection.

Xiao Chenglong, the third monitor of the miscellaneous grain (red bean) production and marketing class of the Meinong Peasant Association, opposed the opening of the Council of Agriculture to fix weeds as a defoliant for red beans. (photo / Li Huiyi) EU officials recognize that herbicides have high reproductive toxicity, but Taiwan officials hold different views.

Since the herbicide herbicide was put on the market in the 1980s, more and more studies have shown the risk of neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity. According to a scientific review released by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) in 2005, animal experiments have shown that herbicide can cause vaginal bleeding, miscarriage and stillbirth, which has serious reproductive toxicity and "may pose a risk of conception that is difficult to repair." It was listed as 1B high toxicity grade.

However, the Council of Agriculture put forward different views on the toxicity of herbicide. Cai Xuan, head of the toxicology team of the Institute of drugs and drugs, said at the expert meeting that according to a 2006 report, "if used correctly, the reproductive toxicity of herbicide is not high." The study suggested that herbicide should not be included in the 1B reproductive toxicity grade. Cai Jieren said that combining this report with the internal research of the Institute, it is concluded that the reproductive toxicity of herbicide is not high, which is different from the official conclusion of the European Union.

It is worth noting that the report comes from the Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology website, which clearly reveals that the scientific partner of the report is "Bayer". The report also indicates that the research and analysis data were provided by Bayer, which was the pharmaceutical company that applied to the European Union for approval to fix herbicides at that time.

Why does the drug institute have reservations about the official EU report and trust the research results supported by Bayer? Cai Xuan said in an interview after the meeting that the official EU resolution is voted on by member states, and it is not clear whether it is the result of an expert vote or an administrative unit vote. In the 2006 report, researchers came from a larger group of experts. Cai stressed that "the 2006 report was not from Bayer, but from Bayer's commissioned laboratory," and the website specifically stated that it was an independent organization.

Citing the source of the 2006 report, the Drug Institute identified Bayer as its "scientific partner" (screenshot from the website). The former director of the Prevention and Inspection Bureau: the European Union is not "banned", but only "doubts in nature and disapproval for use".

The European Union stated in 2009 that approval certificates should not be issued or renewed if the reproductive toxicity of pesticides is of a high toxicity grade 1A or 1B. Sweden also said at the EU meeting in January 2017 that herbicides did not comply with the EU regulations on plant protection products introduced in 2009, and that licenses would no longer be issued after it expired on October 1, 2017, which is tantamount to banning.

In this regard, the Prevention and Inspection Bureau recently appointed pesticide manufacturers to replace the government to explain, "Grass killing is due to the company's commercial considerations, did not propose license renewal, is not banned by the European Union." The Bureau of Prevention and Inspection also issued a press release in response to the manufacturer's statement, "according to the relevant information, the EU's commercial considerations have not been used, and the Bureau has continued to check through the relevant channels."

In response to the current situation of the use of herbicide in the European Union, former Defense and Inspection Director Feng Haidong further said yesterday, "(EU) is not strong enough to 'ban' the word, although in essence, the effect of banning the use of a drug is the same as that of not approving it." it can't be used, but banning is legally a very strong act. " Feng stressed, "it is because the operator did not submit an application to give up, not to ban it, but to return from the approved state to the unapproved state. Don't think so strongly, mainly because there are doubts about the nature, and don't scare."

Zeng Dezhi: suspension of license is prohibited, do not play word games to confuse the focus

Whether it is "prohibited", "no commercial interest" or "not approved", the difference is different in the definition of the noun, but the result is that in the European Union at this moment, herbicide can not be used because of reproductive toxicity. In the face of the issue of fixing and killing grass in the EU, how much does the Prevention and Inspection Bureau have?

In response, Zeng Teh-chi, an honorary professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at Chung Hsing University, said, "to stop the license is to stop the use, that is, to prohibit the use." Appeal to the Prevention and Inspection Bureau not to play with words, blurring the focus of the suspension of herbicide due to the risk of reproductive poison.

Tseng Teh-chih stressed: "Taiwan does not have a team to collect, compare, verify, and respond to current domestic policies on major information." He further stressed that the European Union has told the world that killing grass has reproductive poison, the European Union has stopped license and use, and Taiwan has expanded its use, not even a warning slogan.

"We have so many young farmers who have graduated from university, and they know how to collect information. The government should protect the farmers." "this should be a problem that both the Prevention and Inspection Bureau and the Food and Drug Administration have to face!" Zeng Dezhi said.