Inside: Onion Market

New MH formula is a good alternative

25 July 2017 - Clarisse van der Woude

Relief and joy in the Dutch onion chain about the re-registration of maleic hydrazide. There is one condition: the sprout inhibitor comes in purified form. “No problem”, says chairman Gijsbrecht Gunter of the Holland Onion Association, who lobbyed strongly with trade, LTO, the Province of Zeeland and other stakeholders. 

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The good news was released on Friday, July 21. MH may continue to be used for the next 10 years, provided that the by-product hydrazine is purified from the MH. This could possibly entail health risks for the grower. Authorization holders will bring the new formula to the market by November 1, 2018 at the latest.

It is a good alternative to the old method

Is a purified formulation technically possible and does it still work?
"I understand from the authorization holders that it is technically possible to make the product even cleaner and not lose its effectiveness. The new MH is a good alternative to the old product."

The cure is assured for the next 10 years, but after that? Are there any alternatives at all?
"Difficult, the question is whether there are alternatives. We will certainly look into it, but the new product is a good and clean alternative to the current MH. The first alternative is already there. In the mid-90s, MH contained 15 ppm (per million particles), that had to be reduced to 1 ppm and now it must be reduced to 0,028. This means that we are already 356 times cleaner than in the mid-90s. Not that we are ready now, because you always have to look for improvement. There will always be parties from environmental and nature organizations and politicians who insist on a reduction of certain substances or a complete ban."

What was at stake?
"Our biggest concern, our export position, has now been secured. MH is the Achilles heel of the Dutch export position: half a billion in turnover and MH is crucial for our number 1 position in the world. Without the drug, trading companies would certainly have collapsed, as they themselves are convinced. The sector would have retained its logistics hub with some packaging work, but you can bet that it would have cost many companies their heads."

Otherwise it would have cost many companies their heads

The lobby has been successful. How did you accomplish that?   
"At the end of 2016, we set up a fairly ad hoc committee to focus on the MH issue and the lobbying work for it. In it, we addressed politicians about the fact that it is their job to monitor the independence of the food safety authority ESFA. The politician must keep a distance from whether or not a substance should be authorized and whether or not it is harmful. They lack the scientific knowledge for this. So we have not asked politicians whether MH can be retained, but whether they can guarantee the independence of ESFA If you can keep that pure, you can lobby all you want. But the fact that these types of discussions are quickly conducted politically nowadays makes lobbying difficult and complex."

The goal is reached. Will the working group now be disbanded?
"No, by making the working group structural, we can provide each other with clarity at an early stage about how processes and matters are running. We can also respond to other issues together. Each resource is assessed every 10 years. For some resources this is a formality, the outcome of which is clear in advance, but it also involves crucial resources. Think of seed coatings and fipronil: matters that you have to discuss with each other at an early stage. The product boards used to stand up for this, but now we as a sector have to do this "Fortunately we are well organized as an onion sector. If we had not done it together, we would not have achieved what we have now achieved with MH."

Anyone who still has MH in their cupboard can use it up in the usual way next year. The new formation will then be introduced.

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