After tainted cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) were identified in Wuhan and many other parts of China, China's Ministry of Agriculture has issued an emergency circular which asks agricultural departments at all levels to further strengthen their supervision of agricultural products and enhance the management of vegetable quality.
Since late January 2010, Wuhan's agricultural department has conducted several checks on cowpea products introduced from Hainan and each time they found traces of the listed pesticide isocarbophos in the test samples. As a result, Wuhan has decided to suspend the import of cowpeas from any region for the next three months.
Following Wuhan's lead, agricultural departments in other regions of China have began to take measures to prevent unqualified agricultural products from entering their region.
Hainan Agricultural Department also attaches importance to the matter. After receiving a report from Wuhan Agricultural Department, it released a circular asking each region in the province to strengthen its supervision of pesticides and cowpea production. It has also sent a special team to control the production of cowpeas in the province.
