The Council of Agriculture yesterday announced that three types of pesticide have been banned with immediate effect, while the use of another type is to be prohibited from next year.
Test results released recently by several civic groups have shown relatively high levels of pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables. For example, a report released by Greenpeace Taiwan last month showed pesticide residues on half of a sample of fruit and vegetables bought for testing, with permitted residue levels exceeded on about 15 percent of the produce.
Environmental groups have repeatedly urged the government to enforce stricter regulations on pesticides and ban some that are already prohibited in other countries.
The council announced that three types of pesticides used to tackle pests in storage barns and rats in fields — 0.5 percent phoxim, 0.1 percent diphacinone and 0.5 percent warfarin powders — have been banned as of yesterday.
The council also said that 75 percent fosthiazate emulsion, originally permitted for use on watermelons, tomatoes and pine trees, is harmful to aquatic organisms, birds and bees.
“As there are other, safer pesticides that can do the same job, the import, manufacturing and processing of 75 percent fosthiazate emulsion will be banned, starting on Jan. 1 next year,” the council said.
The council said it would continue to evaluate a further 22 types of potentially hazardous pesticides — containing 15 effective substances — and consider reducing their permitted levels, banning them or enforcing other measures to reduce the risks they pose.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
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