The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given a two-week ultimatum to dealers in fake agrochemicals, including pesticides and fertiliser, to remove the items from the market or face arrest and prosecution.
This ultimatum is part
of the war the EPA is waging against such dealers in its bid to safeguard
lives, as the chemicals have direct links to food.
It follows reports and complaints
received by the agency from end users of these chemicals, as well as members of
the public, about the efficacy and potency of the substances.
“We are giving them two weeks to get
those materials off the market,” the Executive Director of the EPA, Dr Henry
Kwabena Kokofu, said at a press briefing in Accra last Wednesday.
He said the agency had ben clothed
with the law to prosecute anyone who flouted the law on issues under its remit
and would liaise with the police to arrest and prosecute anyone found guilty.
Multinational suppliers
In a similar vein, Dr Kokofu cautioned
multinational companies which dealt in agrochemicals against the direct
retailing of their products to users.
That, he said, was illegal, as the
retailing of agrochemicals in the country was the strict preserve of indigenous
Ghanaian companies, and said:
“The laws of the land will be applied;
if sanctions are required, we will not hesitate to employ them. They can, as it
were, engage Ghanaian retailing agents to do that job for them,” he added.
Don’t fall victim
The acting Director of the Chemical
Control and Management Centre (CCMC) of the EPA, Joseph Edmund, also urged
agrochemical users to purchase chemicals only from companies licensed by the
agency in order not to fall victim.
“We have a list of registered pesticides
that we issue and if you deal in such products, it is your responsibility to
have that list, so that when you’re going to buy, you get the right one,” he
said.
Furthermore, Mr Edmund said the EPA was setting up more labs to enhance the testing of chemicals before they were allowed on the markets as part of its effort to curb the nuisance of fake agrochemicals.
Source: Graphic Online