The Ministry of Agricultural Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI) announced on March 22 that it is strengthening national controls against the illegal trade of agricultural inputs, following the detection of unauthorized pesticides in various regions.
This issue is important because the use and sale of prohibited or expired pesticides can cause serious health risks to people and damage the environment. Ensuring only authorized products are available helps protect both farmers and consumers.
According to MIDAGRI, actions led by SENASA have prevented illegal sales of banned and expired pesticides. Inspections took place in La Libertad, Ucayali, and Huancavelica, where authorities found irregularities in how agricultural inputs were being sold. In Trujillo (La Libertad), officials seized 22 banned pesticides—five containing paraquat and seventeen with chlorpyrifos—as well as thirty-seven expired products. In Padre de Abad (Ucayali), four boxes of contraband products from Ecuador were confiscated along with expired pesticides. In Acobamba (Huancavelica), five businesses were identified for selling pesticides without proper health authorization.
Throughout 2025, SENASA confiscated more than two tons of prohibited products nationwide and carried out over 3,500 inspections to help prevent irreversible harm to health and the environment. As part of these efforts, a company in La Libertad was fined sixty tax units after a mass poisoning event affected more than three hundred people due to improper advertising about pesticide use.
MIDAGRI said it will continue working through SENASA to strengthen control measures on agricultural inputs together with other public agencies responsible for ensuring input quality and food safety.
