By Synthia Lateu
BUEA, August 24, 2023 – Cameroon’s Ministry of Agriculture has instructed the purchase of rapid detection kits to control the misuse of products such as ethephon and formalin to ripen or make farm products in markets look fresh.
Agriculture Minister Gabriel Mbairobe, made the announcement recently, as he chaired the 20th Extraordinary Session of the National Registration Commission of Phytosanitary Products.
Gabriel Mbairobe condemned the practice, noting that, it violates the law on phytosanitary protection. “These misuses are contrary to the provisions of the law of April 21, 2003, on phytosanitary protection, and endanger the health of the population,” he said.
He further ordered the Ministry of Agriculture’s directorate in charge of the assessment of the quality of farm products, to organize an awareness campaign targeting the distributors of phytosanitary products. Minister Mbairobe, also requested the establishment of controls and market surveillance through the use of rapid detection kits to protect the health of populations and guarantee the quality of products on the markets.
A release, issued on July 11, by the divisional officer of Dschang in the Western region of Cameroon, announcing a crusade against unscrupulous traders who preserve and ripen food products using formaldehyde, signalled a resurgence of the artificial ripening phenomenon.
Following this alert, Gabon’s food security agency, AGASA said it would step up controls and health monitoring at its borders with Cameroon. AGASAs Director General, Alia Maheva Bongo Ondimba, announced in a press release dated July 25, 2023, that the plan would consist of carrying out tests on “vegetable and fruit” products, in particular, plantain, pineapple amongst others
The latest sectoral report published by Gabon’s Ministry of Economy revealed that Cameroon was the Central African country’s fifth largest supplier in the first quarter of 2023, behind France, China, Belgium, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
