Agriculture minister worries about imported vegetables containing harmful substances

PHNOM PENH (CEN) – Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said Tuesday that the government was worried about the possibility of harmful substances in imported vegetables since they are never checked.

With vegetable demand higher than local supply, he said Cambodia had no choice but to import vegetables from Thailand and Vietnam

“Daily demand for vegetables in Phnom Penh is about 1,000 tons," the minister said, adding that local farmers could only meet 40 to 60 percent of demand with imports from neighboring countries accounting for the rest.

Local vegetables usually cost more than imports as "people normally prefer organic vegetables, even the price is a bit higher,” he said.

At the same time,  “we worry about imported vegetables since we never check for levels of poisons or chemicals which could be harmful to people’s health.”

The minister said some local traders treated vegetables with chemical substances to make their vegetables last longer.

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