The Council of Agriculture on Saturday announced a ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos from 2026.
The council said it is aiming to halve the use of pesticides in Taiwan within 10 years, but is seeking to remove chlorpyrifos from farms earlier due to concerns that it affects brain development in fetuses.
The pesticide would be phased out in three stages, it said.
Importing and manufacturing chlorpyrifos would be banned from the middle of next month, its processing and sub-packaging would be banned from the beginning of next year, and its use would be banned from 2026, it said.
Chlorpyrifos, which acts on the nervous systems of insects, was patented in 1966 by Dow Chemical in the US, but most US states have had bans in place since 2001. It remains in use in Taiwan, where it was first imported in 1985 and had for several years been the most widely used pesticide.
Farmers use it because it is cheap and effective, the council said.
Although it is used to control insects, chlorpyrifos can be harmful to humans, it said.
“Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphorus agent with high toxicity and is generally used in large quantities,” National Taiwan University Hospital toxicology professor Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) said. “Excessive exposure to it will cause headaches, nausea, diarrhea, palpitations, drooling, blurred vision and disorientation.”
Studies have linked the pesticide to neurological disorders in children, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, he said.
The EU has banned chlorpyrifos entirely and the US prohibits the sale of food products containing traces of the pesticide, he said.
Taiwan has banned the use of chlorpyrifos in the farming of several widely consumed crops, including rice, citrus fruits, lychee and longan, as well as other fruits and vegetables, the council said.
It would be phased out in stages to reduce the impact on farmers, it added.
The use of chlorpyrifos by Taiwanese farmers has been decreasing since 2017, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Chou Hui-chuan (鄒慧娟) said.
Farmers used 448 tonnes of the pesticide in 2017, compared with 278 tonnes last year, she said.
“The Council of Agriculture has investigated alternative pest control methods for farmers, including the use of trap lights and biopesticides,” she said. “Farmers’ cooperatives throughout the country will provide consultations to help with the transition.”
Transitioning away from chemical pesticides is the right direction, as pesticide residues accumulating in the body leads to chronic health problems, she said.
Potentially harmful traces of pesticides have also been found in soil samples, Chou added.
“Worms and insects show signs of poisoning two weeks after the soil was sprayed with organophosphorus agents,” she said.
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