It’s official: Starting June 1, Thailand will ban paraquat and chlorpyrifos, with storage holders required to return the relevant products within 90 days.

Release Date:

2020-06-03

The Thai government has confirmed that it will impose a ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos effective June 1, 2020. Farmers who hold these chemicals are advised to return them to the retailers within 90 days, by August 29.

Effective June 1, 2020, Thailand’s Notification of the Ministry of Industry on the List of Hazardous Substances (Ministry of Industry Announcement No. 6, B.E. 2563) came into force. This regulation prohibits the manufacture, import, export, and possession of five agricultural chemicals, namely: Paraquat, paraquat dichloride, paraquat monosulfate, chlorpyrifos, and methyl chlorpyrifos.

Anyone storing these chemicals must return them to the seller within 90 days, i.e., by August 29. The seller, in turn, must accept the returned chemicals and submit them to the Ministry of Agriculture within 120 days of the ban’s entry into force, i.e., by September 28, 2020.

Out of concern for the health and safety of users and consumers, the Thai government has imposed a ban on certain toxic chemicals. This ban is the result of thorough research and approval by multiple relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Industry. The Thai Hazardous Substances Committee, numerous agricultural industry partners, and the Ministry of Agriculture have all prepared safer alternatives to replace these hazardous chemicals. Farmers can now employ naturally derived substitutes to control agricultural pests, thereby minimizing the impact of the ban and reassuring the public that restricting these chemicals will benefit both human health and other sectors.

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives has instructed inspection officers and relevant officials from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DOA) to conduct inspections and report on the effectiveness of law enforcement in their respective areas of responsibility, which are located in the central and western regions and encompass 19 provinces.

The relevant data for 19 provinces are:

There are 3,158 pesticide stores (out of a national total of 16,005).

Paraquat: 700.43 tonnes (total imports in 2019: 8,562.64 tonnes)

Chlorpyrifos: 103.73 tonnes (total imports in 2019: 697.08 tonnes)

Glyphosate: 528.42 tonnes (total imports in 2019: 9,019.10 tonnes)

*Currently, there is no final decision regarding glyphosate.*