Researcher ready to go to courts against lifting of import ban on glyphostate

By Shanika Sriyananda

Researcher and the Head of the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Rajarata Dr. Channa Jayasumana has said he will go to courts against the recommendation of the Cabinet-appointed committee to relax the import ban on glyphostate, the herbicide which is widely used in tea cultivation.

 He said that the Government could not relax the import ban on glyphostate for the benefit of the tea industry as it would pollute downstream water causing more health and environmental hazards.

“We firmly believe that President Maithripala Sirisena, whose electorate records the highest number of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), will allow the lifting of the ban,” he said.

The committee, which was appointed in November 2016, has recommended allowing the tea plantation sector to import glyphostate. According to Ministry of Plantation Industries and Agriculture sources, the tea plantation sector needs over 800,000 litres annually.

“The tea industry has been badly affected by the import ban on glyphostate. Minister Navin Dissanayake will submit a Cabinet paper soon following the recommendations of the committee,” a top ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

He said that Minister Dissanayake had recently spoken to President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about the committee’s recommendations.

 Dr. Jayasumana said that Minister Dissanayake, who has a strong desire to lift the ban on glyphostate, had submitted a Cabinet paper last year but due to strong opposition from the Cabinet of Ministers he had to withdraw the Cabinet paper. 

“It is quite unlikely the other ministers will agree with his decision this time too. Most importantly, the President, who represents the North Central Province, an area which records the highest number of CKD patients, will not give the final nod,” he stressed.

 Dr. Jayasumana, who represented Sri Lanka at the International Monsanto Tribunal held at the Hague in November 2016, said the Ministers who represent the CKD-hit areas should speak against the decision to allow the importation of glyphostate to the tea plantation sector.

He said that he was confident that a mere set of recommendations by a Cabinet committee would not lead to any implementation of this nature of an import ban. “The majority of the members of this committee are representing the agriculture sector and there is no expert in this committee to find the link between CKD and glyphostate, which is listed as a group 2 carcinogenic substance by the WHO,” Dr. Jayasunama noted.

The 10-member committee led by Western Region Megapolis Planning Project Chairman Ajita de Costa, comprises Director General Agriculture Dr. Rohan Wijekone, Advisor/Ministry of Agriculture and Council for Agricultural Research Policy Chairman Dr. Jerry Jayawardene, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, Secretary/Ministry of Plantation Industries Dr. Upali Marasinghe, Director of the Tea Research Institute Dr. Sarath Abeysinghe, Professor of Ecological Agriculture, University of Sabaragamuwa Prof. P. I. Yapa, Dr. Ranil Senanayake, Director of the Food Security Program of the Presidential Secretariat W. Sakalasooriya and Advisor of the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs C. Maliyadda.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jayasumana cautioned about a possible drop in Sri Lankan tea in the world market if the Government allows the use of gylpostate in the tea plantation sector. “People will refuse to buy tea grown with a carcinogenic substance,” he stressed.