Congresswoman Maria Elena Frond requested the Minister of Agriculture, Gustavo Mostajo, be present at the installation session of the Agriculture Committee of the Congress of the Republic so that he could explain the Ministry’s regulatory policy regarding the trade, uses, and manipulation of agrochemicals in the field.

On August 7, the national news reported that some people of the community of Ayacucho San Jose de Ushua, 11 of whom have died, had been contaminated. According to one of the hypotheses, it’s possible that this incident is related to the use and manipulation of agrochemicals.

Four days later, in the village of Colcap, in the province of Santa, Ancash, more than 40 people, one of which has died, were poisoned; presumably by a contaminated corn that was used to prepare chicha, according to relatives.

In addition, 76 workers of the Natucultura Agricultural Company, in the province of Morropón (Piura region), were poisoned after inhaling Malathion, an agrochemical used to kill pests in tomato crops and to combat mosquitoes

“We can’t continue like this,” stated the congresswoman. “People die or are left disabled because of these types of toxins. There is no effective control in the marketing, sale, and application of these products in the field by medium and small producers of food for national consumption.”

That’s why the presence of the Minister of Agriculture be present is so relevant, said Congresswoman Frond. He has received an official request for the results of the analysis that SENASA performed in these cases, and for a detailed report on the Ministry’s regulatory policy regarding the trade, use, and manipulation of agrochemicals in the fields and their marketing in cities.

In turn, SENASA stated in a press release that it was constantly carrying out prevention actions, by training producers, and conducting monitoring activities to prevent pesticide contamination in agricultural products.

They also stated that the pesticide registration holders are obliged to participate in the monitoring, training, and dissemination of the use of these inputs.

Agricultural pesticides that have a red band on their label (which are extremely dangerous), can only be purchased with an agronomic prescription issued by an agronomist, in establishments that are authorized and supervised by SENASA.

"We urge the people of the countryside not to use products that haven’t been registered by the SENASA because their content hasn’t been evaluated and, therefore, their levels of toxicity and effects are unknown" .

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