The ministry is tasked with monitoring plant quarantine stations. They are said to have imported agricultural produce with residual chemical substances exceeding the limit. It has no authority over the imports but to inform the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is responsible for consumer products in quarantine.
The Public Health Ministry has been collaborating with The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to strictly check and quarantine produce with chemical residues and is planning to establish labs capable of detecting over 100 types of chemical substances in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong Customs Checkpoint, said Mananya.
FDA said that it’s necessary to quarantine vegetables and fruits with exceeding amount of hazardous substances at Chiang Khong Customs Checkpoint in Chiang Rai. The check point is also one of the largest distribution channels to several markets in Thailand, according to the Nation.
Dicrotophos, methamidophos and mevinphos were substances commonly found in 14 types of 1,500 samples including; chilis, green pepper; oranges from Myanmar and celeries; purple cabbages; broccoli’s; radishes from China. Oranges imported into Chiang Rai also identified as the produce with the highest level of chemical residues.