A network of farmers has pledged that it will file a petition with the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission against the Ministry of Public Health next month accusing it of using unreliable sources of information in its proposal to ban three toxic farm chemicals.
Unchalee Luckumnueporn, coordinator of the Khon Rak Mae Klong Volunteer Network, said that the farmers are unhappy with the Ministry of Public Health for using information from the Thai-Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-PAN), Biothai and the Foundation for Consumers to make their decision.
"We are the victims of a decision based on poor sources of information. It is clear that the act by the ministry to ban the chemicals was managed improperly, which is against Article 157 [of the Criminal Code]. We will file our petition with the anti-graft agency by the end of next month," she said.
She claimed that state-owned agencies have found no contamination to vegetables and fruits from paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos in contrast to laboratory tests carried out by Thai-PAN.
The group's petition will target the ministry's head, Anutin Charnveerakul, its permanent secretary-general, the Food and Drug Administration's secretary-general and other related agencies under the ministry.
According to her, in 2016 Thai-PAN claimed that it found traces of paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos in Chinese kale, which caused the price to fall by half.
However, the Mae Klong network rechecked the information with the Department of Agriculture and found no paraquat or glyphosate, and only a safe level of chlorpyrifos.
However, she added that the Ministry of Public Health has still based its decision to ban the three chemicals on this study.
She stressed that the Supreme Administrative Court last week agreed to accept the group's petition asking for an injunction against the ban.
The group, which advocates the use of the three farm chemicals, yesterday held a seminar titled "Sustainable Way Out for Agrichemical Use in Thailand", demanding that any decisions in the case be based on scientific evidence.
Chanya Meneechote, president of the Weed Science Society of Thailand, said that information from the meeting will be forwarded to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Committee on Hazardous Substances and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for further consideration.
Saran Wattanathada, a senior official at the Department of Agriculture said that it will difficult to find alternatives if the three chemicals are banned soon.
The National Committee on Hazardous Substance agreed to postpone a complete ban on the three controversial chemicals, which was originally due to be enforced on Dec 1 but has subsequently been postponed until June next year, saying that more planning is needed. It ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to research substitute chemicals and rehabilitation measures for the affected farmers.
Farmers say their costs will rise significantly if the ban materialises; however, civil society groups remain committed to pushing for the prohibition of the three chemicals due to the risks they pose to human health.