FDA HALTS RAISING FUNGICIDE RESIDUE ALLOWANCE LIMIT|開放農藥氟派瑞惹議 食藥署急喊卡

The Food and Drug Administration was widely lambAsted after it announced on March 15th that it was raising the maximum allowable level of the fungicide fluopyram. Although an experts' panel expressed unanimous support for the FDA's decision, the FDA had a sudden change of heart four hours after the expert meeting, announcing through a press release that it was delaying change in standards. This sudden reversal was also criticized. An experts' panel unanimously agreed that fluopyram is a low-toxicity fungicide with no cancer risk, and that its effectiveness could lead to less use of other pesticides. The experts also said that fluopyram is fat-soluble and only found in derivative products, not in brewed teas. Nonetheless, the FDA still announced that it is delaying the implementation of new rules allowing for higher levels of fluopyram in tea. ==CHENG WEI-CHIH Senior Technical Specialist, FDA== In order to listen fully to the public opinion, we have decided that changes to the allowable level of fluopyram in tea will be delayed. The government is acting counter to expert opinion. Academics say that society's general fear of anything to do with pesticides requires more government communication and education on the topic. ==TZENG DER-SYH Professor, Dept. of Plant Pathology, Chung-Hsing University== This is not a safety issue, it's a trust issue. When it comes to pesticides, most people need more education. In addition, our use of pesticides needs to have a better system, so it can be professionalized. Although the FDA is no longer changing the standard for fluopyram in tea, it has announced looser standards for 22 pesticides across 128 products. Consumer groups are questioning the basis for the other changes and demanding the government to provide research or statistics, or delay and re-evaluate those changes as well. TRANSLATED BY：JOHN CHEN 食藥署在3月15日公告，放寬茶葉中農藥"氟派瑞"的殘留容許量，引發批評，昨天下午，防檢局跟食藥署一同舉行專家會議，會中專家們一致支持食藥署，認為不需要修正公告，不過四個小時後，食藥署卻緊急喊卡，晚間九點發新聞稿，宣布暫緩放寬茶葉農藥的殘留容許量，被外界批評、政策大轉彎。 儘管昨天的專家會議上，專家一致認為氟派瑞是低毒性的藥物，也沒有致癌的虞慮，還能有效防治病蟲害、減少其他農藥使用，而且屬於脂溶性，只存在茶乾，民眾泡茶喝下肚的機率很低。但昨天晚間9點，食藥署還是發新聞稿，決定暫緩實施茶葉中氟派瑞的殘留容許量。 ===衛福部食藥署簡任技正 鄭維智=== 為了要傾聽所有的民意 因此我們決定 有關於 茶葉中的氟派瑞這個農藥 我們暫緩實施 政府作法與專家建議不同，學者認為，因為社會上聽到農藥普遍都很害怕，政府除了需要再溝通，民眾對農藥的見解也需要再教育。 ===電訪有cg中興大學植物病理學系教授 曾德賜=== 這個不是安全的問題 是安心的問題 農藥方面普遍大家需要教育 還有一個 我們的農藥的運用 應該要一個制度上面 怎樣讓它專業化 雖然放寬茶葉中"氟派瑞"的殘留容許量喊卡，不過這次食藥署公告放寬的是22種農藥在128項蔬果等產品的殘留容許量，因此消基會也質疑，其他的放寬依據是什麼?又參考了哪些國際標準?消基會要求政府提出相關文獻或實驗數據，否則其他的放寬應該一併檢討、重新評估。 許恆慈 陳昌維 台北報導