Govt may scrap pesticide labeling
Govt may scrap pesticide labeling
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said yesterday that the government may revoke, or postpone the implementation of a ruling on pesticide labeling if it turns out to be a burden to farmers.
Sjarifudin made the remarks at a hearing here yesterday with members of the House of Representatives' commission for agriculture and forestry.
He said earlier this month that in line with a ministerial decree issued in November 1995, pesticides should bear hologram stickers before the chemicals can be sold, in order to protect users from fraudulent products.
The stickers are to be printed and distributed by a private company, PT Aryo Seto.
But pesticide producers complained that the stickers would create additional costs which, in turn, would have to be passed on to farmers.
Sjarifudin said yesterday that pesticide and sticker producers were still negotiating the terms and prices of the stickers.
"There has been no compromise yet, but the government does not want farmers to suffer," he said.
He declined to mention a specific deadline for the negotiations but acknowledged that the regulation may be canceled if the negotiations prove to be unfavorable to farmers.
The decree is scheduled to come into effect in April.
Sjarifudin reaffirmed that the government issued the decree last November to protect farmers from fraud.
"To this end, we are cooperating with groups or individuals who can help us, such as the private company that has proposed to produce and distribute the stickers," he said.
Pesticide producers, he said, are willing to attach the stickers on large packages. "But they argue that the additional costs are too high if they do so for smaller packages," he said.
Smaller packages, he argued, are the ones that farmers use most, and which are therefore more vulnerable to fraud.
"We support any effort to guarantee pesticide products, but we insist that farmers should not be the ones to bear the financial burden," he said. (pwn)