St Gallen tightens PFAS rules for farms as farmers object

The canton of St Gallen is tightening enforcement of limits on PFAS in food, prompting criticism from the St Gallen Farmers Association, SRF reported. The canton has told potentially affected farms that meat with excessive PFAS levels will no longer be tolerated on the market and has called for testing.

Between 80 and 100 farms, mainly in the northeastern part of the canton, are affected. In a letter seen by SRF, the canton said farmers must use statutory self-monitoring to ensure that only products complying with legal requirements are sold.

The letter also warned that official inspections finding levels above the maximum limits could lead to administrative measures and, depending on the circumstances, criminal proceedings.

St Gallen Health Director Bruno Damann said the canton would pay for the tests and compensate farms that could no longer sell goods because of excessive levels. The aim, he said, was to remind farmers that self-monitoring was their responsibility.

Ruedi Thomann, president of the St Gallen Farmers Association, said he was shocked by the letter and accused the government of shifting responsibility onto agriculture, even though farmers were not responsible for the contamination.

PFAS entered the soil through the spreading of sewage sludge until the 1990s. At the time, nobody was aware that the sludge contained the chemicals.

Farmers say the canton’s approach could effectively prevent some businesses from producing anything. Thomann is calling for a longer grace period. The limits for meat have been in force for two and a half years, he said, asking why enforcement had suddenly become urgent after meat had been sold for decades.

Damann rejected the suggestion that the canton had changed its position. He said St Gallen had always insisted that clean meat should reach the market, but was now facing pressure from the federal government, industry and consumers. The canton therefore believed it had to intervene more firmly and enforce the law.

St Gallen farmers are backing a motion in the Swiss National Council and Council of States that would temporarily suspend enforcement of the PFAS limits. That would allow farmers to continue selling their products until a nationwide PFAS study was completed. The motion’s chances are unclear, and the Federal Council has already opposed it.