Argentina may ban dichlorvos and trichlorfon

Argentina’s National Service of Health and Food Quality (Senasa) concluded the period of consultation for the proclamation of the resolution that bans the use of dichlorvos (2,2-chlorovinyl-dimethyl phosphate) and trichlorfon during the stages of post-harvest, manipulation, stowage, grain storage and application on facilities, deposit treatment, round-houses or empty warehouses of vehicle transport or stored tobacco.

 

The fundamentals of the project pointed out that there was a complaint from Japan regarding the maximum limit of dichlorvos to be used on sorghum and corn shipments. The same complaint regarding wheat came from Brazil. In fact, the sunflower oil export from Argentina to the European Union reduced because of the restriction this market imposes on the presence of dichlorvos.

 

The resolution was very punctilious regarding the reasons for which these two were banned, including that exporters and associations have been, in fact, requesting the measure. One of the most relevant points was that these products needed 120 days to degrade under the limits accepted by importers, while boat transportation of grain requires just more than 35 days.

 

When established officially, the norm will call for a ban on import, commercialization, and use of active principles dichlorvos/DDVP and trichlorfon, and the formulated products that contain them, for use in grain, including the stages of production, post-harvest, transport, manipulation, stowage, and storage, as well as the facilities for grain storage and tobacco. 

 

As in other cases, a declaration of stocks should be done until the product is totally out of circulation, or 180 days after the norm is published in the Official Gazette.