Glufosinate Confirmed Banned by EU, Yet the Council of Agriculture Presses Ahead Again Ignoring Public Opinion from "Join the Discussion"

By Upstream and Downstream reporters Li Hui-yi and Cheng Chieh-yi

It has been five months since the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on May 20 the new tolerance level of 2.0 ppm for glufosinate residues in adzuki beans. On the government's online communication platform "Join the Discussion," public opinion was overwhelmingly one-sided, with 90% of comments opposing the added food safety risk, and many farmers and farmers' associations promoting domestic adzuki bean brands also did not want glufosinate entering the adzuki bean industry.

Although both consumers and producers oppose using glufosinate to harvest adzuki beans, the Council of Agriculture still continues to go to the countryside and widely distribute questionnaires to conduct surveys. On one hand, it broadly offers subsidies for environmentally friendly drying methods, while at the same time strongly promoting to farmers that glufosinate is safe and effective. In addition, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine and the Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute have avoided the reproductive toxicity concerns raised by the EU, showing no regard for the huge impact that opening up glufosinate would have on future purchase prices set by adzuki bean wholesalers.

Upstream and Downstream has previously revealed multiple times that the EU has banned glufosinate, but the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine claimed that glufosinate is only "Not Approved" in the EU, not banned. Upstream and Downstream reporters once again sought confirmation from the European Commission, and a press officer clearly stated that "Not Approved is equivalent to a Ban," and that glufosinate's reproductive toxicity is classified as Category 1B, meaning that even if it were applied for again, it would not pass review.

Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Holds Forums in the Countryside and Distributes Questionnaires, Stressing Review Is Complete, Continues to Push Glufosinate

Starting October 16, the Council of Agriculture held "109/110 Crop Year Adzuki Bean Plant Drying Subsidy Program Briefing and Glufosinate Risk Communication Forums" in Wandan Township, Kanding Township, Nanzhou Township, Xinyuan Township, Donggang Township, and Pingtung City in Pingtung County, as well as Meinong District and Daliao District in Kaohsiung City, among other places.

At present, the Council of Agriculture has completed a total of 4 forums in Meinong and Wandan. At the meetings, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine repeatedly emphasized that the policy of using glufosinate as an adzuki bean plant desiccant had gone through a complete review process.

Hung Yu-tang, section chief of the Pesticide Management Section of the Plant Protection Division of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said that in 2019, the Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute completed the preliminary review; in early 2020, the Pesticide Technical Advisory Committee successively completed reviews of application technology, chemical environment, and toxicology; and the Food Safety and Nutrition Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health and Welfare also approved it. Then on May 20, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a pesticide residue tolerance standard of 2.0 ppm; on July 6, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine convened a meeting of scholars and experts to demonstrate credibility.

The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine also distributed questionnaires at the meetings for farmers to fill out, comprehensively collecting farmers' opinions on questions such as "plant drying methods used in the past," "whether you agree to open up glufosinate," "priority order for leaf-shedding methods," "whether you know about the government's pesticide residue testing," and "whether you are willing to cooperate with safe pesticide use."

418 Public Opinions on "Join the Discussion," Council of Agriculture Leaves Them on Read with No Reply, Democratic Procedure Only Half Done

General questionnaire surveys are mostly conducted before major policies are finalized, but the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine did the opposite, both emphasizing that the review process was complete and at the same time going to the countryside to collect public opinion. This move left farmers not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Farmer Yen Chuan-cheng said to section chief Hung Yu-tang of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, "Brother, didn't you just have a briefing slide that said everything had already passed? Since your government has already done so many things, and you're only here holding a forum to announce it, why still ask for our opinions?"

Chang Yu-ling, administrative director of the Homemakers United Foundation Environmental Protection Foundation, believes that the Council of Agriculture had already, from July 6 to August 4, solicited opinions from all sectors through the online platform "Join the Discussion." Within 30 days, the platform had accumulated 418 comments, 90% of which did not approve opening up glufosinate for adzuki bean harvesting. She said, "We have been waiting from early August until now, more than two months have passed, and the Council of Agriculture still has not provided analysis and comprehensive responses on 'Join the Discussion,' yet now it wants to do another questionnaire?"

"Join the Discussion" is a communication platform built by the National Development Council, but the Council of Agriculture left it on read with no reply, only carrying out half of the democratic procedure, greatly disappointing civic groups. Chang Yu-ling said that if citizens want to leave comments on "Join the Discussion," they first need to fill in basic information.