[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province has strengthened the safety of eco-friendly agricultural products to build trust.
The province announced on the 19th that it will implement groundbreaking measures to ensure the safety of eco-friendly agricultural products, such as a joint pest control prior notification system and restrictions on support for farms with certification cancellations.
This is a response to the government's expansion of pesticide residue analysis components from 320 to 511 types starting this year.
Despite various eco-friendly agricultural product certification management measures and strong subsidy recovery actions implemented so far, cases of certification abandonment and detection of pesticide residues in some farm products occur every year.
Measures have been prepared to fundamentally block these issues.
Starting this year, to strengthen eco-friendly agricultural product certification management, the eco-friendly agricultural complex will operate a "joint pest control prior notification system."
Contractors entrusted with joint pest control must submit a joint pest control confirmation form, including the date of pest control, organic agricultural materials, and usage amounts, to the city or county before pest control.
The representative of the eco-friendly agricultural complex must attend the joint pest control site to verify whether the materials used are organic agricultural materials and whether prohibited substances such as synthetic pesticides are mixed.
If the city or county suspects the use of prohibited substances such as synthetic pesticides, they will strengthen on-site management by collecting samples for inspection at any time in the presence of the farm.
The pesticide residue analysis components, which were 320 types until last year, will be expanded to 511 types from October this year due to the revision of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's notification.
The province and the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service increased the pesticide residue analysis components to 511 types last year in preparation. As a result, 87 farms violated the regulations and had their certification canceled, raising the need for focused management.
Penalties for farms with eco-friendly agricultural product certification cancellations will also be strengthened. Farms with certification cancellations will have their subsidies recovered and be restricted from receiving provincial subsidies related to eco-friendly agriculture for three years after the first cancellation and five years after the second cancellation. Contractors entrusted with joint pest control who mixed prohibited substances during pest control will be permanently banned from participating in eco-friendly agriculture projects.
Jeonnam Province plans to closely cooperate with the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service to share information on farms with certification cancellations and responsible contractors for continuous management.
Soyoungho, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, "We will ensure that the misconduct of some farms and joint pest control contractors does not harm the many farmers who sincerely practice eco-friendly agriculture," and added, "We will do our best to support and manage the production of eco-friendly agricultural products that consumers can trust and eat."
Meanwhile, according to the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, the certified area of eco-friendly agricultural products in Jeonnam Province last year was 45,928 hectares, accounting for 56% of the national total, and the organic farming area was 23,770 hectares, accounting for 61% of the national total. In particular, the organic farming area in Jeonnam surpassed the pesticide-free area, accounting for 51.7% of the total eco-friendly certified area in the province, setting a record high.
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