Monthly Archives: October 2022

Public Comment: Ban 30 Substances in Pesticides

Chemical pollution, Environment, Food, , , 
Pesticides used in agriculture can contain many ingredients that are not well known and may be unsafe to humans and the environment.
Proposed Ministerial Order to Prohibit 30 Substances of in Pesticides

Mr. Tetsuro Nomura, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

To: Agricultural Safety Management Division, Consumption and Safety Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

20 October 2022

From: Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ)

Co-Chairperson: Ado Kameyama

Co-Chairperson Miyoko Sasaki

Co-Chairperson Martin Frid

Regarding the Proposed Ministerial Ordinance to list and ban the use of 30 auxiliary ingredients of agricultural chemicals in the Standards for Refusal of Registration under the Agricultural Chemicals Control Law:

We, Consumers Union of Japan, are a consumer organization working for the safety of food and agriculture, and the safety and security of our daily lives. We believe that there are several problems with the Ministerial Ordinance to Provide for Cases Specified by Ordinance of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of the Environment under Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 11 of the Pesticide Control Act (12 October 2022), which was presented by the Ministry and for which public comments were solicited.

We hereby petition for reconsideration and improvement as follows:

1. Proposal to Include 30 Auxiliary Ingredients of Agricultural Chemicals in the Criteria for Refusal of Registration

(1) CUJ is opposed to the proposal to include 30 auxiliary ingredients of pesticides in the Criteria for Refusal of Registration if they account for 0.1% or more of the total weight of the pesticide. We demand that none of them shall be detected and that their use in small quantities also be prohibited.

(2) CUJ opposes the enforcement date of 1 October 2025. If the law comes into effect three years later, some of the pesticides (preparations) currently on the market will contain these 30 auxiliary substances, and they will still be on the market. This could lead to a “rush to market” by manufacturers and distributors, and the continued use of pesticides even though it is known that they contain toxic auxiliary ingredients. The ministerial ordinance should be enforced immediately after its enactment.

(3) In addition to including these 30 auxiliary ingredients in the Standards for Refusal of Registration, we demand that the Standards for Refusal of Registration be applied to pesticides containing these ingredients that are currently being sold and used, and that all pesticides containing these 30 substances be promptly suspended or prohibited from use. This should result in their immediate recall from the market, and the cessation of their use, including in farmers’ inventories. It is unacceptable for pesticides containing toxic auxiliary ingredients to continue to be released into fields and the environment (It is well known that pesticides cause air pollution, soil contamination, and pollution of rivers, lakes, marshes, and the sea). A total ban on the use of pesticides (preparations) containing these auxiliary ingredients themselves should be promptly adopted.

(4) CUJ is opposed to the transitional measures that will allow registration until the enforcement date, that will allow the registration of pesticides using these banned auxiliary ingredients, as well as their sale and use until their expiration date (generally said to be 5 years). Under the five-year grace period, pesticides containing 30 carcinogenic and other toxic ingredients will continue to be sold and used for almost five years. It cannot be denied that these 30 auxiliary ingredients are carcinogenic, chronically toxic, and having toxic effects known as endocrine disrupters or environmental hormones even at trace amount levels. They should be enforced immediately without transitional measures.

(5) CUJ demands that the trade names of the pesticides (formulations) currently on the market (including farmer-retained products) that use the 30 auxiliary ingredients be listed and made public immediately. The current labeling on pesticide containers and packaging only lists type and amount of auxiliary ingredients. With descriptions such as “surfactant” or “emulsion” as the type, it is not possible to determine whether these 30 toxic chemicals are included or not. The “right to know”, “right to choose”, and “right to be safe” of users, consumers, and citizens who may be exposed to pesticides when using them, such as farmers, users in non-farming areas, home gardeners, and residents living near areas where pesticides are sprayed, should be ensured.

(6) CUJ demands that all applicable pesticides (formulations) be required to display a warning label with product names.

(7) CUJ demands that administrative guidance to encourage the recall and suspension of the use of these products be thoroughly strengthened as mentioned above.

2. Future Criteria for the Refusal of Registration and Review of Agricultural Chemicals

(1) The 30 auxiliary ingredients of pesticides proposed this time are substances with extremely high toxicity, such as carcinogenic substances, which will be included in the Standards for Refusal of Registration based on scientific data, and their use will be prohibited. We request that the toxicity of auxiliary ingredients other than the 30 substances be promptly investigated and that substances with relatively high or moderate toxicity be promptly included in the Criteria for Refusal of Registration.

(2) In the Materials to be submitted in applications for registration of agricultural chemicals (17 August 2021), the materials to be submitted as Test Results on Effects on Humans are still mainly related to active ingredients of the pesticide ingredients, and the overall toxicity of the pesticide (preparation) is not included. Thus the overall toxicity of the pesticide (formulation) is limited to acute toxicity. Test results for auxiliary ingredients are not required to be submitted. In the future, we request that test results on chronic toxicity, carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, developmental neurotoxicity, etc. of pesticides (preparations) be included in the submission materials, paying attention to the toxicity of auxiliary ingredients as well.

(3) We should not use chemicals that require gas masks in the cultivation process of producing food. On the other hand, with regard to many pesticides, such as neonicotinoid pesticides and organophosphorous pesticides, for which there is already scientific evidence showing health effects and a ban on their use has been suggested, the precautionary principle should be proactively adopted. CUJ is of the opinion that highly hazardous pesticides and substances that may be endocrine disrupters should be promptly banned.

Original post (in Japanese):

https://nishoren.net/new-information/17950

 

Organic School Lunches, All Over Japan

Organic Agriculture/Food, Uncategorized

On 26 October the National Organic School Lunch Forum will be held at Nakano Zero Main Hall in Nakano Ward, Tokyo

Food is deeply related to the environment. Expanding the use of food with a low environmental impact will lead to a society that is kind to living creatures and the planet, and where everyone can be happy. So, to help expand that system, we can give a boost to introducing organic food into school lunches.

And of course organic school lunches are delicious and very healthy for the children.
At this event, we will introduce examples from Japan and other countries that have introduced such organic school lunches, how they have changed and how they can be introduced.

This event is sure to be a useful reference for municipalities interested in organic school lunches and those considering adopting them.

Message from Michiyo Koketsu, CUJ

Biotechnology, Food, North-South, , ,

 

My name is Michiyo Koketsu, and this year’s message for the TABEKIME Campaign is again from the field. As the Secretary General of Consumers Union of Japan, I feel strongly about this topic!

My T-shirt reads, “Defend Our Rice! Fight For Our Rights”. I received it from MASIPAG, an NGO against genetically modified rice in the Philippines. I wear it as a gesture of solidarity to MASIPAG and to my colleagues who are fighting against the domination of food by multinational corporations in the world.

I decide what I eat.
I decide what I make.
Not for big corporations.

#たべきめキャンペーン
#WorldHungerDay2022
#FoodChained
#Hungry4Change

How to Participate:
Please take a picture of yourself, the food you want to protect, or the production site of the food you want to protect, and post the picture together with your message board in the following way. You can post as many photos as you want. The message board can be downloaded from the following pdf link. You can use the official name laid out (English version) or you can write your own message on the board. Post your photo(s) using this Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/806047030062792

Here are pdf files that you can print out and use to take your photo(s):

Tabekime

Tabekime blank

Press Release: “We Decide What We Eat Ourselves” Campaign

Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Food, , ,

Press Release 18 October 2022

Consumers Union of Japan

No! GMO Campaign

You are invited to participate in the action TABEKIME Campaign 2022:

We, together with family farmers, small farmers’ groups and citizens’ groups around the world, have been opposing the domination of food by multinational corporations. We will promote the TABEKIME Campaign, an abbreviation for “We decide what we eat ourselves,” which was very popular last year, starting from World Food Day this year.

World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October, as designated by the United Nations.

Eating is the basis of life. Despite this, many people around the world are suffering from hunger, even though a lot of food is produced. The biggest reason for this is the domination of food by multinational corporations and the uneven distribution of food in developed countries. Currently, the multinational corporations that control food are represented by agrochemical companies that develop genetically engineered crops and other products.

The company that has long reigned at the center of this domination has been the U.S. company Monsanto. For this reason, citizens around the world have been marking this day as Anti-Monsanto Day. Monsanto has now been absorbed by Bayer AG of Germany.

The campaign, Millions against Monsanto has now become Billions against Bayer.

New genome-editing technology foods have also been introduced here in Japan by local companies. We are very concerned that such efforts contradict the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and Codex Alimentarius rules regarding food safety.

We are launching the TABEKIME Campaign again this year, in order to assert that we decide what we eat, not what is forced upon us by the multinational corporations. The way to participate is simple. We hope you will join us and appeal to the world.

Click here to find out how you can participate in our TABEKIME Campaign:

http://www.nishoren.org/en/?p=2531

We are using the following hashtags in solidarity with our colleagues who resist the domination of food by multinational corporations abroad:

#WorldHungerDay2022
#FoodChained
#Hungry4Change

Best regards,

Michiyo Koketsu

Secretary General

Consumers Union of Japan

Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) is a politically and financially independent non-governmental organization. CUJ is funded by membership fees, sales of its publications and donations. CUJ was founded in April 1969 as Japan’s first nationwide grassroots consumer organization.

Address: Nishi Waseda 1-9-19-207 Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo, Japan (169-0051)
E-mail: office.w@nishoren.org
Fax: +81-(0)3-5155-4767

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Participate in the Photo Submission Action TABEKIME Campaign 2022

Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Civil Rights, Food, Food Security, ,

You are invited to participate in the action TABEKIME Campaign 2022

*Photo submissions will be accepted from October 16, 2022.

Every year, 16 October is World Food Day. Originally, this day was set up with the hope that people around the world would be able to enjoy a rich dietary life. However, the world’s food supply is now controlled by a few multinational corporations such as Bayer and Corteva, and as a result, food is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people in developed countries, leaving many people without food on a daily basis. This trend is becoming more and more pronounced as the application of advanced technologies such as genetic engineering.

We, together with family farmers, small farmers’ groups and citizens’ groups around the world, have been opposing the domination of food by multinational corporations. We will promote the TABEKIME Campaign, an abbreviation for “We decide what we eat ourselves,” which was very popular last year, starting from World Food Day this year.

Click here to see the contributions, with many photos for the TABEKIME Campaign in 2021.

Background of the TABEKIME Campaign:

World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October, as designated by the United Nations.

Eating is the basis of life. Despite this, many people around the world are suffering from hunger, even though a lot of food is produced. The biggest reason for this is the domination of food by multinational corporations and the uneven distribution of food in developed countries. Currently, the multinational corporations that control food are represented by agrochemical companies that develop genetically engineered crops and other products.

The company that has long reigned at the center of this domination has been the U.S. company Monsanto. For this reason, citizens around the world have been marking this day as Anti-Monsanto Day. Monsanto has now been absorbed by Bayer AG of Germany, and new genome-editing technology has been introduced. Yet, the structure of food domination by multinational corporations has only strengthened, not weakened.

We are launching the TABEKIME Campaign again this year, as we did last year, in order to assert that we decide what we eat, not what is given to us by the multinational corporations. The way to participate is simple. We hope you will join us and appeal to the world.

The name of the campaign is

I decide what I eat.

I decide what I make.

Not for big companies.

(Abbreviated name: TABEKIME Campaign 2022)

Purpose of the Campaign:
The purpose of this campaign is to express our will by taking pictures of message boards to protect our food from being plundered by big business.

Campaign Organizations:
Consumers Union of Japan
No! GMO Campaign

How to Participate:
Please take a picture of yourself, the food you want to protect, or the production site of the food you want to protect, and post the picture together with your message board in the following way. You can post as many photos as you want. The message board can be downloaded from the following pdf link. You can use the official name laid out (English version) or you can write your own message on the board. Post your photo(s) using this Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/806047030062792

Here are pdf files that you can print out and use to take your photo(s):

Tabekime

Tabekime blank

Or use these jpg images: