Farmers given 90 days to hand in chemicals
Manufacturers or importers of hazardous agrochemicals paraquat and chlorpyrifos — which are banned under Thai law — have 270 days to destroy their stock while a 90-day deadline has also been given to farmers to return the chemicals for destruction as their possession is considered illegal, the Department of Agriculture says.
The announcement was made in line with the Ministry of Industry’s decision on May 15 to place paraquat and chlorpyrifos on the list of hazardous chemicals and ban their use in the kingdom, effective from June 1.
Alongkorn Ponlaboot, adviser to the minister to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said the ministry has set up a working group on the three hazardous agrochemicals to deal with the case, and guidelines for how to destroy the chemicals will be publicised at a later date.
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
