FDA suggests pesticide review be transferred to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine. Lin Tsung-hsien: The government follows the division of duties under the system.
The government's setting of new pesticide residue standards has stirred controversy. To explain the application process, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) of the Council of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare went out of their way to convene an expert meeting last week. After the meeting, the attending experts also reached a conclusion, stressing that there was no problem with the testing process and that the focus should be on "risk communication." But that evening the FDA suddenly made a major policy reversal, issuing a news release stating that it would "temporarily suspend the approval of fluopyram for use on tea," prompting criticism from scholars that the FDA completely disrespected professional expertise.
Regarding the FDA's repeated changes to policy, Chiang Chih-kang, associate professor at the Institute of Toxicology at National Taiwan University, said in an interview that the Ministry of Health and Welfare strongly stressed that the policy had been publicly announced in accordance with the law for sixty days, but clearly no one saw it, which meant there were flaws in risk communication. He added that the experts attended the expert meeting in order to discuss with government agencies in a scientific manner, not to endorse the policy, yet in the end the policy "turned," and he said bluntly that the professional opinions provided by experts were hardly respected; they not only attended while bearing public criticism but also had to take the blame.
FDA: suggests all pesticide matters be placed under the Council of Agriculture, does not want to take the blame
As for the FDA of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the main actor in the incident, it believes that current pesticide management involves the professional expertise of BAPHIQ, and hopes that in the future all pesticide inspection will be fully led by BAPHIQ. At this week's inter-ministerial meeting, it will also propose that pesticide approval adopt a "single-chain" approach, with the Council of Agriculture taking full responsibility, so that the FDA no longer has to take the blame.
Council of Agriculture: government agencies should divide work according to the system, does not understand why the FDA is taking the blame
In response, Council of Agriculture Minister Lin Tsung-hsien said this morning while attending an international symposium that "he does not understand what blame the FDA is taking, but the Council of Agriculture exists for the sake of farmers nationwide; from agricultural production to the dining table, everyone has their own tasks, and government agencies must divide work according to the system." He also stressed that the government has already been actively promoting ecological agriculture, and in the future, for new pesticides, it will certainly ask BAPHIQ and the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute to guide farmers in rational pesticide application, so that everyone can eat with peace of mind.
As for whether the current temporary suspension of fluopyram use on tea means that the new item will never be approved in the future, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung stressed that the temporary suspension at this stage is to let government agencies do a good job of "risk communication." Once everyone understands the administrative agencies' procedures and communication bridges are established, it will be opened again. However, he also admitted frankly that as to when it will be opened, "there is currently no complete timetable."