VietNamNet Bridge - An extremely toxic herbicide made in China may penetrate the Vietnamese market through smuggling in 2016, which is a major threat to food safety and environment.

Dr Nguyen Kim Van from the Vietnam Plant Protection Association (VNPPA) said at a food safety conference held recently that China is likely to change liquid paraquat, a kind of herbicide, into powder. If so, a large volume of liquid paraquat China made before would be carried to neighboring countries, including Vietnam.

Paraquat is quick acting, killing all green plants on contact just within 24 hours. It is also toxic to human beings, animals and the environment,

As paraquat has a high toxicity level, it is listed among the chemicals for restricted use. Any living being contaminated with paraquat cannot be detoxified. 

The Lao Cai provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that there were 26 paraquat poisoning cases in the period from March 2013 to June 2014, and 80 percent of the people died.

If such a big volume of Chinese herbicide slips into Vietnam, this will post a big challenge to state management agencies and a major threat to the community.

Van called on state agencies to take drastic measures to prevent Chinese herbicides from entering Vietnam ‘immediately’, or it would be too late to control the smuggling across the border gates. 

The drug smuggling across the border gates in northern provinces such as Lang Son, Lao Cai and Cao Bang is described by analysts as ‘alarmingly serious’.

According to the Lao Cai provincial agriculture department, of the 150 tons of plant protection chemicals used in the locality, 10 percent are products illegally imported from China and not found in the list of chemicals allowed to be used in Vietnam. 

The majority of the products are herbicides and growth stimulants for bananas and pineapples.

“It is necessary to increase the penalties on the behaviors of smuggling, distributing and using prohibited chemicals so as to ease the smuggling,” Van said.

Scientists have repeatedly warned about the high import volume and the abuse of plant protection chemicals in recent years.

A report said the volume of plant protection chemicals used in Vietnam has increased by 2.5 times in the last 10 years, while the number of registered drugs has increased by 3.5 times. During that time, the value of imports has increased by 3.5 times. Ninety percent of imports are from China.

The report also pointed out that the volume of plant protection chemicals used for every hectare of land in Vietnam is higher than other countries. The figure is 2 kilos per hectare in Vietnam, while it is 1.8 kilos in Thailand and 1.1 kilos in Bangladesh.

Tien Phong