Glufosinate toxicity feared to damage the reputation of domestic adzuki beans; BAPHIQ leads experts and pesticide companies in assessment

Text / Upstream and Downstream reporters Li Huiyi, Zheng Jieyi, Cai Jiashan, Lin Yijun

The Council of Agriculture plans to open glufosinate for use as a defoliant for adzuki bean harvest, prompting backlash not only from consumers but also from farmers' associations in the two largest adzuki bean production areas and the Eagle Red Bean brand, creating the dilemma of "for whom exactly is this being opened?" BAPHIQ held a press conference yesterday (the 22nd), reiterating that glufosinate is safe as a defoliant, and regarding glufosinate's reproductive toxicity and EU ban, BAPHIQ assigned a pesticide manufacturer to respond on its behalf, claiming that "glufosinate was not banned by the EU; the company did not apply for license renewal due to commercial considerations."

However, according to a January 2017 EU meeting, it was clearly stated that "glufosinate's properties are very dangerous, and its reproductive toxicity is classified as category 1B, which means it does not comply with the EU's 2009 plant protection product regulations." BAPHIQ believes that only high concentrations of glufosinate cause reproductive toxicity risks, yet the latest research reports indicate that even low doses can cause embryonic damage.

Regarding BAPHIQ's statement that "anonymous farmers" have continuously expressed demand to the agricultural research and extension station, which is why the glufosinate defoliant trial for adzuki beans was conducted, Zhang Zhilie, general manager of the Wandan Farmers' Association in Pingtung, said, "Anonymous farmers expressed demand, so the research station conducted a trial, but when our farmers' association put our name forward hoping the government could hold a meeting with all parties present to solve the problem together, BAPHIQ was unwilling to respond directly. Does a named farmers' association matter less than an anonymous individual?"

EU regulations: Pesticides with reproductive toxicity may not be granted or renewed licenses

After glufosinate came on the market in the 1980s, more and more research showed its neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity risks. A scientific review published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2005 already pointed out glufosinate's high reproductive toxicity, "may harm unborn children," and "may cause difficult-to-repair fertility risks."

The EU passed new plant protection product management regulations in 2009, explicitly stating that if a pesticide's reproductive toxicity falls under the high-toxicity categories 1A or 1B, no approval or renewal may be granted. Germany's Ministry of Agriculture stated in 2009 that under the new law, glufosinate's reproductive toxicity is category 1B, exceeding the safety threshold. Sweden, which was responsible for submitting the draft review report on glufosinate, also stated at the January 2017 EU meeting that "glufosinate's properties are very dangerous, and its reproductive toxicity is classified as category 1B, which means it does not comply with the EU's 2009 plant protection product regulations."

Glufosinate's license expired on October 1, 2017, and because some farmers could not transition in time, it was extended to July 31, 2018. According to regulations, after a license expires, EU member states' buffer period for using up stock may not exceed 18 months, and this has now also expired, amounting to a ban. Countries that continue to use it are violating EU regulations.

At the pesticide authority's press conference, pesticide companies actually spoke on its behalf, obscuring the fact that the EU has clearly banned it.

However, our BAPHIQ believes that only the EU cannot use glufosinate, while other countries still use it. Yesterday, BAPHIQ actually invited pesticide companies to the press conference to help explain. Qin Baohua, chairman of CropLife Taiwan and also assistant manager at BASF, the major pesticide company that produces glufosinate, said, "Glufosinate was not applied for license renewal due to commercial considerations; it does not mean the EU banned it."

However, this statement ignores the fact that the EU's official meeting record clearly points out that glufosinate already "does not comply with the EU's 2009 plant protection product regulations." Even if the pesticide company submitted a renewal application, it would be rejected. More notably, BASF, where Qin works, is precisely a major glufosinate manufacturer, and its big-selling product in Taiwan is called "Basta."

CropLife International, a sister organization to CropLife Taiwan, is the world's most important lobbying group for pesticides and genetically modified technology. Its members include international agrochemical giants such as BASF, Bayer, Syngenta, and Monsanto, later acquired by Bayer. It promotes pesticides and GM crops around the world and lobbies government decision-making, for example pressuring the EU to relax review standards for GM crops and spending heavily in the United States to oppose GM labeling.

When Taiwan's Council of Agriculture planned to open a new use for glufosinate and faced questions related to the EU issue at the press conference, it was actually the pesticide manufacturer's representative who came forward to explain, highlighting the Council of Agriculture's insufficient functional capacity. Even more worrisome, the manufacturer did not avoid the conflict of interest at all and openly answered questions on behalf of the Council of Agriculture. It is hard to believe that the Council of Agriculture's decisions can remain objective and fair and ensure scientific independence.

BAPHIQ: Embryonic toxicity is the result of high doses; latest research: low doses can cause damage

BAPHIQ reiterated that it has conducted a rigorous assessment of glufosinate's toxicity. After comprehensively reviewing multiple toxicity tests, it chose the lowest "no observed adverse effect level" (NOAEL) to set standards, and by reference to soybeans set a residue tolerance of 2 ppm. Therefore, adding glufosinate use on adzuki beans will not increase dietary risk. BAPHIQ also believes that the toxicity risks described in media reports are all results at high doses.

But the latest research reports indicate that low-dose glufosinate can cause embryonic damage. A 2014 paper by French scholar Anthony Laugeray and others pointed out that when pregnant and lactating female mice ingested low-dose glufosinate, it was enough to harm embryos and young offspring.

Existing research indicates glufosinate may harm fetuses, while pregnant women in Taiwan often drink adzuki bean water to reduce edema. How will the government guard against such risks? Xu Cihong, deputy director of the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, explained, "At the time we did consider different age groups, including women of childbearing age 19-49." He believes that if farmers apply pesticides according to the methods set by the Council of Agriculture, the risk will certainly be within an acceptable range.

Farmers may not necessarily use pesticides according to regulations; Control Yuan: Pesticide sampling and monitoring system has loopholes

However, farmers' actual pesticide application methods may differ greatly from the Council of Agriculture's expectations. According to Upstream and Downstream reporters visiting production areas, in the last adzuki bean season, although glufosinate had not yet been opened for use, farmers in production areas were already "freely improvising." Hearing the Council of Agriculture's recommended dilution ratio of 200 times, one pesticide store owner said, "The government's required dilution ratio is very weak; the effect may not be very good." Some farmers had already mixed their own formula, diluting glufosinate 50 to 100 times and mixing it with sodium chlorate for spraying.

Glufosinate is also not among the 380 pesticide inspection items in routine monitoring and must be tested separately. If it is officially opened in the future, how should farmers' usage be controlled? Xu Cihong said, "For non-routine testing, the agricultural side has used science and technology programs to monitor. From the residue values, you can tell whether farmers have used pesticides correctly." In addition to end-point testing, the Agriculture and Food Agency also conducts field monitoring.

But the Control Yuan's latest investigation report published on June 9 pointed out loopholes in pesticide sampling and monitoring: "The targets of field fruit and vegetable pesticide residue monitoring lean toward producers with '4 Labels and 1 Q,' so sampling results are inevitably distorted." "Using these as the main sampling targets will inevitably overestimate the actual pass rate for pesticide residues."

In addition, the Control Yuan report also exposed problems on the front line of field monitoring: "When local governments handle this sampling work, they must personally go to fruit and vegetable fields and collection sites to take samples. Sometimes it is hard to avoid pressure from personal connections or producers' skillful avoidance, so the selection of sampling targets may be biased and cannot accurately reflect the public's dietary risk."

Zeng Deci: The problem lies in pesticide management; glufosinate data have not been updated for nearly 30 years

Regarding BAPHIQ's press conference explanation, Zeng Deci, retired professor of the Department of Plant Pathology at National Chung Hsing University, said, "Pesticides should be used professionally. Glufosinate can be used as a herbicide, but to use it as a defoliant, I think you cannot mess around like this."

Zeng Deci emphasized that BAPHIQ should reflect on itself. To date there is no guidance system for pesticide application and no plant doctor system. Government regulations are very strict, but they simply cannot manage farmers' application conditions in the field. Second, updating and mastering pesticide pharmacology information is very important, and BAPHIQ has no dedicated unit doing regular assessments.

Zeng Deci gave an example: from 1990 to 2006, the United States spent ten years re-reviewing all chemicals, and nearly ten thousand pesticides were all re-registered. Canada later followed suit. By 2008, the EU also began this enormous task, and the ban on glufosinate was completed within this wave of assessment. "In contrast, in Taiwan, the government claims it wants to do this, but does BAPHIQ have professional people to carry out this work? Or does it just issue an order and ask manufacturers to cooperate?" Zeng Deci repeatedly emphasized that glufosinate is an old drug, and its data have not been updated or revised for twenty or thirty years. "Can that be justified?"

The European Food Safety Authority re-examined glufosinate's residue standards in 2015, pointing out possible acute risks to consumers. Because countries' climates and environments vary greatly, it recommended that member states conduct further trials individually. The EU continuously updates pesticide regulations, but it depends on each government to set domestic laws according to local conditions. The EU experience is continually cited not because it is "narrow-minded" and fixated on the strictest, lowest tolerance, but because, under the supervision of civic groups and the media, it continuously discloses scientific review documents, makes the decision-making process transparent, and broadly incorporates all parties' opinions.

BAPHIQ: Drone application of friendly materials has reached 1,220 hectares; farmers' association statistics: only 20 hectares

Back in the adzuki bean production areas, what farmers worry about most is this: no country that imports adzuki beans has opened glufosinate for use as a defoliant on adzuki beans, and their beans are cheaper than ours. If domestic adzuki bean standards are looser than those abroad, they could very likely be crushed.

In response, Zou Huijuan said glufosinate can originally be used as a plant drying defoliant, and each country approves it according to necessity; not every country needs it. In our country, because rice must be planted immediately after the adzuki bean harvest, time must be raced, so rapid drying is necessary.

"Glufosinate is only one option, but we do not encourage it," Zou Huijuan emphasized. The government will still provide a "pull" incentive. In 108 of the Republic of China calendar year, it encouraged those not using defoliants or using sodium chlorate by subsidizing NT$6,500 per hectare, and provided farmers free registration for drone application of nonanoic acid. In the future, nonanoic acid will continue to be subsidized, only changing from NT$20 per bottle to NT$30.

BAPHIQ stated in a press release, "The promotion of friendly farming has worked well, and farmers' acceptance of incentive measures is very high. At present, the area of drone application of nonanoic acid has already reached 1,220 hectares." However, according to data provided by the Wandan Farmers' Association and Meinong Farmers' Association, for the period from the end of 108 to the beginning of 109 in the Republic of China calendar year, the registered drone application area of nonanoic acid in these two major adzuki bean production areas was only 3.58 hectares and 15.9 hectares. Added together, it is not even 20 hectares, a gap of as much as 1,200 hectares that still awaits public explanation from BAPHIQ.

Will not spraying defoliant on adzuki beans affect rice? Eagle Red Bean: We will help farmers wait with peace of mind for natural defoliation

BAPHIQ claims that opening glufosinate offers great convenience to farmers, mainly allowing them to catch up with rice cultivation time after harvesting adzuki beans. However, the "Eagle Red Bean" team in Pingtung has a different way of thinking.

Li Jianhui, the brand's chief executive, said that their current contract farming area is more than 200 hectares, with more than 100 farmers, and all adzuki beans are harvested by natural defoliation. Although the harvest period is one or two weeks slower than other farmers, "as long as farmers are willing to follow us on the path of friendly farming, we will help farmers solve problems!"

Regarding the issue of rice planting in the next stage after harvesting adzuki beans, Li Jianhui said, "We will help farmers pre-order seedlings from seedling farms, so that when farmers plant rice, they immediately have seedlings to plant. This is our planned production model."

Wandan Farmers' Association: For whom exactly is the government opening glufosinate?

Zhang Zhilie, general manager of the Wandan Township Farmers' Association, explained that the government's full ban on the herbicide paraquat in February this year had a major impact on adzuki bean production models, but farmers had no choice but to accept it and tried their best to cooperate with alternatives, such as sodium chlorate, nonanoic acid, high-salinity nitrogen fertilizer, or natural defoliation, to harvest adzuki beans. He emphasized, "Everyone is still transitioning!"

But along the way, Zhang Zhilie often felt powerless. He believes the government should support farmers willing to transition, rather than opening glufosinate just because some farmers say they need it, which instead discourages farmers who cooperated earlier. He said, "Now it seems we can only rely on the power of consumers to change farmers who are ambiguous and still waiting to see. As for the government, it should stand at a higher level than farmers' associations, rather than solving short-term problems while causing greater impact!"

Regarding BAPHIQ's statement, "Opening glufosinate is only one option, but farmers are not encouraged to use it," Zhang Zhilie was even more confused. "Then I find it very strange. Since the risk issues have not yet been clarified, the government says it is opening it to farmers but does not encourage farmers to use it. Isn't this dumping responsibility on farmers and causing pointless turmoil? Consumers will not accept this explanation either."

Series reading: "Herbicide Glufosinate as Adzuki Bean Defoliant" series reports

[Mini knowledge: Adzuki beans and defoliants]

When adzuki beans mature, they need to dry and defoliate in the field before harvesting. The traditional method is to wait for adzuki beans to defoliate naturally. Later, to facilitate machine harvesting, most farmers used pesticide materials such as the herbicide paraquat, spraying it on adzuki beans to accelerate defoliation. In recent years, the government has encouraged farmers to switch to non-pesticide friendly materials such as nonanoic acid and sodium chlorate, and in February this year fully banned paraquat. However, because the Council of Agriculture believes farmers have a need to use glufosinate as an adzuki bean defoliant, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in coordination with the Council of Agriculture, announced at the end of May this year a residue tolerance of 2 ppm for glufosinate on adzuki beans.