Oman moves to curb overuse of pesticides

Minister says it is very challenging to monitor large exports of farm produce on daily basis

The ban on some Omani food products by the UAE has negatively impacted the country, says a member of the Shura Council.

The UAE recently banned certain Omani vegetables and fruits after discovering some of the products exceeded maximum residue limits (MRL) of pesticides.

Pesticide levels in melons, watercress and carrots imported from Oman by the UAE were found to be above the allowable limits.

Hilal Al Yahyai, Chairman of the Shura Council Committee on Food and Water Security, told Dr Fuad Al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, in the Shura Council meeting that the ban has harmed the country.

The ban has resulted in losses of thousands of riyals for Omani fruit and vegetable vendors. Al Sajwani said that Oman has yet to receive an official reply from the United Arab Emirates about the banned agricultural products. “We conveyed our observation to the UAE ambassador in Muscat, Mohammad Al Suwaidi, about the banned products and local farms that exported vegetables that had high pesticides limits.” Al Sajwani said that his ministry was dealing with the parties found to be in violation of the pesticide limits but also said monitoring of such large exports was very challenging. “We export hundreds of tonnes of food products to the UAE on a daily basis. Such mistakes are likely to happen despite the fact that we are always inspecting products before exporting them,” the minister added.

“It is the social responsibility of Omanis to supervise the functioning of their farms, but many of them have entrusted their farms to expats,” he said. Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries said that it had increased its food inspections. “More than 1,600 samples taken from commercial farms nationwide were tested and we found that 98 per cent of the samples conform to internationally permissible limits of pesticides,” the ministry said.