Entry of tainted veggies feared

By Dexter A. See

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The provincial government and local agriculture stakeholders here urged the national government not to open its ports to free trade unless and until concerned agencies are capable of preventing the entry of pesticide-laden vegetables and other agricultural commodities from foreign countries.

Local officials said the country is not in a position yet to address the problem so there is no need to rush things because it would be detrimental to the continuous development of the country’s agriculture sector which is the primary source of income for most people in the countryside.

At present, the local government and agriculture stakeholders are currently lobbying to compel concerned government officials to hold in abeyance implementation of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement where vegetables are concerned until the next five years so local agriculture stakeholders could come out with measures on improving the quality of their products.

Under the agreement, potatoes, carrots, and cabbages are included in the high sensitive list which would be allowed free entry into the country, thus, the same would be in direct competition with locally produced ones, especially in this vegetable-producing province.

Gov. Nestor Fongwan said opening up of the economy to free trade at a time when government does not have the capability of determining pesticide residue in vegetables would prove to be fatal to the local vegetable industry which provides livelihood to thousands of people in the countryside.

The local chief executive said the country is not prepared yet to compete in the open market, thus, concerned government agencies must first strengthen the local agriculture industry so that farmers will be given the appropriate support and logistics to be able to improve the quality of their products for better productivity.