THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to ensure that only pesticide-free vegetables are imported into Kerala, the government on Tuesday decided to form an authority headed by the Food Safety Commissioner to co-ordinate activities in this regard with neighbouring states.
Selling pesticide-laden vegetables can attract tough penalties including prosecution, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who convened a high-level meet here on the issue, warned.
The new authority will have as its members top officials from the departments of health, agriculture, animal husbandry and sales tax and the Kerala Agricultural University and the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (HORTICORP). The meeting decided to ask the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to convene a meeting of the Food Safety Commissioners and health secretaries of the southern states.
The Food safety Commissionerate is planning to step up inspections for pesticide residues in vegetables, Food Safety Commissioner T V Anupama said. “The Kerala Agricultural University, which tests samples for us at its lab, has agreed to reduce the testing rates. Orders have been issued to Joint Commissioner, Food Safety, to begin collecting statutory samples of vegetables for inspection,” she said.
Joint inspections in the farms in other states where vegetables are grown for the Kerala market are also on the cards. “We have already written to Food Safety Commissioners of other states. We are looking at whether combined inspections can be conducted,” Anupama said, adding that action can be taken against the original source of pesticide-laden vegetables as well as retailers who sell them.
As part of the initiative, the government will soon convene a meeting of wholesale dealers who purchase vegetables from neighbouring states for sale in Kerala. The meeting also discussed the possibility of conducting inspections in farms in other states.
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