Urgent Call to Farmers and Ethical Pesticide Merchants: Stop Using Dangerous Chemicals

An urgent warning has been issued to all farmers and conscientious pesticide and agricultural medicine traders in Lebanon. A list of specific agricultural chemicals, known to cause severe illnesses and potentially fatal diseases, has been released for immediate cessation of use.

The chemicals in question are:
• Endosulfan
• Dimethoate
• Pirate flw
• Total nil
• Lentrak top
• Starlane
• Acitamiprid + endosulfan
• Azodrin

The alert insists on the immediate halt of usage of these substances until further actions are taken by security forces and judicial bodies for their confiscation. These chemicals were illegally imported into Lebanon.

Following the revelation, MP Wael Abou Faour submitted a formal complaint last Thursday to the Prosecutor General and another to the Judicial Council at the Ministry of Justice. The complaints named both fictitious and real individuals and companies endangering public health by trading in internationally and locally banned agricultural pesticides and medicines.

The Prosecutor General has directed the Information Branch to initiate an investigation into confiscating these substances and probing the traders involved. Sources from the Information Branch confirmed to LBCI that they will verify the nature of these substances before proceeding with confiscation measures and summoning those implicated for questioning.

The Ministry of Agriculture, primarily responsible for this issue, has pledged to remove these products from the market and has sought the assistance of the State Security apparatus.
In a parallel move, the Ministry of Health will re-examine all previously granted approvals, which might have been exploited for smuggling banned substances into Lebanon under the guise of warehouse cleaning materials.

Until these measures are completed and the substances are withdrawn from the markets, the onus falls squarely on farmers to refrain from using these dangerous chemicals. This is crucial not just for their own health and that of their families, but also for the wider public.