By Nam Hyun-woo
A new regulation on agricultural chemicals will take effect next year, according to the agriculture ministry, to bolster food reliability and safety of food products.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will introduce a positive list system from Jan. 1 next year, affecting all agricultural products harvested or imported into the country.
The system permits farmers to only use pesticides registered for respective crops within an amount set by the government. If a certain crop has no registered pesticide or standards, a 0.01 parts per million (PPM) limit, which is stronger than the current 0.05 ppm, will be applied.
“The introduction of the positive list system will be a major turning point for Korea's agriculture, distinguishing homegrown products from imported ones as well as meeting the public demand for safer and more reliable food,” Minister Lee Gae-ho said during an interview with The Korea Times.
Major agri-food importers, such as Japan and Taiwan, already employ the system for stronger control on imported and domestic food products. Korea has been applying the system on nuts and several tropical fruits since Dec. 31, 2016, and will expand it to all farm produce.
Regarding the system, however, confusion is stirring among farmers and experts that the government's testing procedure of available pesticides is too slow.
Also, calls are growing saying the amount of pesticide available is less than the actual demand. Questions are raised such as what will happen when there is no registered pesticide suitable for a certain crop and the pesticide the farmer is using currently fails to meet the requirements
For full implementation, the ministry said it is now testing unregistered pesticides to increase the number of available chemicals from 9,500 to 17,000.
The ministry also said it is expanding an education program for the new regulation, visiting farmers in remote areas, as well as operating a call center providing information on the new system and how to address potential disputes with farmers.
“The full implementation of the positive list system is a great opportunity for farmers to regain consumers' trust in Korean foods,” Lee said. “Concerns such as the small number of available pesticides will be complemented by follow-up policies. During the remaining period, the government will focus its efforts on educating farmers, pesticide makers and distributors about the system.”