Friday, July 11, 2008 'Pink disease' causes FPA to allow endosulfan use
FERTILIZER and Pesticide Authority (FPA) deputized provincial coordinator Francisco Flores clarified the banned pesticide endosulfan shipment was covered by a special permit issued by the FPA national office because the Del Monte pineapple plantations are infested by the "pink disease".
Flores, through their regional office, learned about this and explained that FPA could have found enough justification to allow the use of endosulfan to control the spread of the so-called "pink disease" (Pantoea Citrea - www.apsnet.org).
While admitting he is less familiar with said pineapple disease, he said in other cases, crawling and flying insects could be carriers of the bacteria P. Citrea, thus these must be controlled.
"While I am not privy to the special permission granted by the national office, it is possible that endosulfan could be the most effective intervention as undiscovered infected pineapples could be more dangerous when canned and eaten," Flores said.
Flores assured, however, that "red labeled" insecticides or pesticides like endosulfan undergo strict laboratory experimentation before FPA issues permits.
Procedures being followed by FPA before issuing a product registration certificate number to pesticides and fertilizers, including organic fertilizers, involve trial stage testing in a reputable laboratory, usually the chemical laboratories of the University of the Philippines.
He added that pesticides and fertilizers require certain period of time for the trial stage and the actual period of research and experimentation.
After passing the trial and actual experiments, Flores said the chemical is then brought to the field to be tried twice for two cropping seasons and twice every season, one during wet and one during the dry season.
"I am sure FPA followed this procedure, otherwise it would be held accountable," Flores added.
As to the loading of endosulfan in a passenger vessel, Flores said "it is unfortunate that FPA is not allowed by law to board a vessel to inspect. This is something that we are working on with Congress otherwise, we could have monitored the movement of endolsufan."
"The vessel, however, could have inspected the transshipment permit or certification issued by FPA, which is complete with all specifications of pesticides and fertilizers applied for and the vessel's accountabilities are clear. Even if FPA is not allowed to board, there are agencies that are allowed to board the vessel for inspection," he said. (Gil Alfredo Severino)
