Regulations for the management of pesticides in Malaysia are sufficient and often being updated to handle new issues. The Pesticides Act 1974 is the principle legislation to regulate the management of pesticides in Malaysia. The Act covers the management of all pesticides and other chemicals used in agriculture. The Pesticides Board is set up to implement the Act under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is comprised of members from relevant government agencies. The Pesticide Control Division of the Department of Agriculture was entrusted with the task of providing the secretariat to the Board for the implementation of the act. There are presently seven subsidiary legislations being enforced in the area such as registration, importation for research and education purposes, labeling, licensing for sale and storage for sale, highly toxic pesticides, advertisement, and pest control operators.
Several amendments have been made to Pesticides Act 1974 such as the control of importation of pesticides as registration samples and control of possession or use of unregistered pesticides, and imposing of penalties for all offences. Other related regulations on the management of pesticides are the Environmental Quality Act 1974, the Food Act 1983 and so on. The primary objective of Environmental Quality Act 1974 is to control the discharge of chemical and industrial wastes including pesticides into the environment, so that there will be no adverse effects on human health and the environment. The Food Act 1983 prescribes the maximum residue levels of certain pesticides in food.
3. Ministry/Administration Involved in Pesticide Regulation
 Fundamental Legislation: | |
| Pesticide Act 1974 | |
| History: | |
|---|---|
| 30 Jul 1974 Firstly Issued under Act 149 of 1974 | |
| 22 Sep 2004 Revised by Act A1226 | |
| 12 Jul 2011 Amended by P.U.(A) 235/2011 | |
| Main supporting legislation in force | |
| 16 Aug2012 Environmental Quality(Amendment) Act 127 | |
| 25 Sep 2008 Pesticides(Registration)(Amendment)Rules 2008,P.U.(A) 353/2008 | |
| 1 Aug 1984 Pesticides (Labeling) Regulation 1984, P.U.(A) 251/1984 | |
| 14 Feb 1987 Pesticides (Importation for Educational or Research Purposes) Rules 1987 | |
| 6 Dec 2007 Pesticides (Licensing For Sale And Storage For Sale) Rules 2007 | |
| 07 Jun 2011 Pesticide (Licensing for Manufacturing) Rules, 2011 | |
| 19 Apr 2004 Food (Amendment) Regulations 2004, P.U.(A) 160/2004 | |
| 25 Feb 1994 Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 | |
Ministry/Administration | Regulatory Duties |
Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry | - implementing and enforcing the Pesticides Act 1974. - controlling the quality, efficacy and adverse effects of pesticides imported and manufactured; - registration evaluation; - carrying out post-registration activities involving enforcement after registration, detection of pesticide residues in crops and the environment. - acts as a coordinating agency in matters related to pesticide domestically as well as at international level. |
Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Human Resources | responsible for administering, managing, and enforcing legislation related to occupational safety and health |
Department of Malaysian Quarantine Inspection Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry | - provide integrated services relating to quarantine, inspection and enforcement at entry points, quarantine station, premises quarantine; - certification for the import and export of plants, animals, carcasses, fish, agricultural product, soils and microorganism and include inspection of and enforcement relating to food and for matters related to it. |
Customs | product check at entry point |
4.Malaysia Pesticide Legislative Framework
Regulations | Issuing Body | Scope |
Pesticides Act 1974 | Ministry of Agriculture | regulates the labeling, registration, importation, manufacture, advertising, sale and storage of pesticides; controls the presence of pesticide residues in food and the reporting and investigation of accidents and injuries caused by pesticide |
Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) | Department of Environment | controls pesticide effluents from factories |
Pesticides (Registration) (Amendment) Rules 2008, P.U.(A)353/2008 | Ministry of Agriculture | regulate the application/registration fee |
Pesticides (Labeling) Regulation 1984, P.U.(A) 251/1984 | Ministry of Agriculture | regulate pesticide labeling |
Pesticides (Importation for Educational or Research Purposes) Rules 1987 | Ministry of Agriculture | provisions for the importation of unregistered pesticides for educational or research purposes by permit |
Pesticides (Licensing For Sale And Storage For Sale) Rules 2007 | Ministry of Agriculture | license to sell pesticides, include business transactions relating to storage of, owning, exhibition and sale of or any service using assigned classes of pesticides. |
Pesticides (Licensing for Manufacturing) Rules, 2011 | Ministry of Agriculture | license to manufacture pesticides |
Food (Amendment) Regulations 2004, PU(A) 160/2004. | Ministry of Health | covers the issue of pesticide residues in food and some non-legislative actions to reduce the health threats from pesticides include education for pesticide users, research on bio-pesticides, improvements in pesticide applications |
Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514) | Department of Occupational Safety and Health | promote, stimulate and encourage high standards of safety and health of workers at work |
5.Key pesticide management authority
Fig. 2 -Authorities of Pesticide Management in Malaysia
Pesticides Control Division is a technical division responsible for implementing and enforcing the Pesticides Act 1974. Pesticides Board comprises various heads of government agencies, and it is the pesticide registration authority.
This division is involved in controlling the quality, efficacy and adverse effects of pesticides imported and manufactured in the country through a registration scheme. Meanwhile, Import Permit can be used for importing pesticides that have not been registered for the purposes of education and research. Premises that involved in the sale and storage of pesticides are regulated through the licensing of premises.
The division is also responsible for controlling the operation and use of pesticides, controlling the use of pesticides which are highly toxic pesticides and regulates the labeling and advertising of a pesticide. This division is also responsible for carrying out post-registration activities involving enforcement after registration, detection of pesticide residues in crops and the environment. In addition, this division acts as a coordinating agency in matters related to pesticide domestically as well as at international level.
6. Pesticide Registration
There is only one type of registration clearance in Malaysia- the full registration is implemented. Importation of limited amount of unregistered pesticide is through import permit. For the purpose of registration, pesticides are divided into 2 categories namely proprietary and commodity.
6.1 Commodity pesticides
Commodity pesticides are pesticides containing active ingredients that have been registered in Malaysia for not less than 10 years.
6.2 Proprietary pesticides
Proprietary pesticides are pesticides that are not commodity pesticides as defined above are classified as proprietary pesticides. In case the of a pesticide mixture containing proprietary and commodity active ingredients, the pesticide shall be considered as a proprietary pesticide.
7. Registration requirements
7.1 New registration
The following are the requirements for an application for registration of a new pesticide: the composition and percentage of all the ingredients are identical, an outline of the manufacturing process, any change of source(s) or manufacturing process during the period of registration, letter authorizing the use of data from the owners of the data, draft labels, analytical pesticide sample with suitably packed and clearly labeled
7.2 Re-registration
The validity period of a registration is 5 years. Before the end of the validity period, the registrant may make an application to re-register the pesticide, and the application must be submitted not earlier than 1 year BUT not later than 6 months before expiry. Late submissions to re-register may not be accepted and may necessitate the pesticide be submitted as a new application.
The following are the requirements for an application for re- registration: amended draft label, the composition and percentage of all the ingredients are identical, an outline of the manufacturing process, any change of source(s) or manufacturing process during the period of registration, and data on five batch analysis.
8. Data requirement
Data requirement includes impacts on human and animal (A.I.), impacts on the environment (A.I.), effects on non-target organisms (A.I), bio-efficacy data (Formulation), physical and chemical properties (A.I. and formulation), product specifications (A.I. and formulation), MSDS, manufacturing process, stability test, method Of Analysis, sample of the product, classification and labeling, registration status in other countries, and free sale certificate from other countries (some countries require certification by the Embassy).
Brief introduction is as followed:
Fig. 3 -Data Requirement on Pesticide Registration in Malaysia
9.Labeling requirements
The label should contain the identity of the pesticide and instructions on use, precautions to be taken and other relevant information. Under the Pesticides Act 1974, a pesticide shall not be sold unless it is registered and labelled with an approved label. To ensure proper labelling of pesticides sold in the country, the Pesticides (Labelling) Regulations 1984 have been gazetted and should be used. For guidance, the applicant is advised to refer to Annex III which provides two layout examples that meet the requirement of the Pesticides Board. The applicant should also refer to the latest edition of ‘Garis Panduan Untuk Nama Dagangan Racun Perosak’ in order to ensure trade name given to the pesticide is acceptable to the Pesticides Board.
Fig.3-Pesticide Labels in Malaysia
The Malaysian Pesticide Board has classified all registered pesticides into four classes according to their level of toxicity to human beings. These classifications appear as color bands at the bottom of a pesticide label. Class 1 (black band for Class 1a and red band for Class 1b together with a skull and crossbones symbol) is highly poisonous and is usually only used by trained persons. Class 2 in yellow band is classified as poisonous. Class 3 is labeled as harmful and the least toxic group is classified in Class 4.
Fig.4-Pesticide Classification in Malaysia
10. Importation of pesticides
10.1 Importation for sales
Any person who intends to import a pesticide for sale must ensure that such pesticides has a valid registration and has the relevant certificate of registration from the Pesticides Board of Malaysia. The right to import a product belongs only to the holder of that registration.
The importer of the pesticide must, at the point of import, provide the Royal Customs Department of Malaysia with a certified copy of the valid registration certification of the pesticide as provided for under the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2012.
The minimum time required for processing an application for an import permit is 5 days. Application for pesticide registration may only be made by a locally registered company. The registration fee for a product would depend on the hazard class of the pesticide in question i.e. Class 1a (RM 5,000), Class 1b (RM 5,000), Class II (RM 3,500), Class III (RM 2,500) and Class IV (RM 2,000). The fee will be paid in two stages, i.e. RM 1,500 upon submitting an application, and the balance (which is according to the hazard class assigned to the product) once the product has been approved and the registration certificate is issued. Products registered by the Board including the names of companies registering the products are published in the Government Gazette on a monthly basis, and this information is available through the department website http://www.doa.gov.my/.
Information required in e-permit application are the consignee and consignor details, country of origin, place of origin, the port of entry, source of supply, the estimated date of arrival, the product name, CAS. No of active ingredients, tariff code of active ingredient, the amount imported value of import and unit type of product. Validity period is for three (3) months. If the import permit has expired, its validity cannot be extended and a fresh application has to be submitted to replace the expired permit.
Under current procedures, any pesticides imported to Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan need to go through inspection and approval by the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services (MAQIS) at the point of entry.
Importation procedure
Application for import of registered pesticide for commercial purpose is by online.
Applicant needs to register with Dagang Net for e-Permit subscription.
Permit issuance will take five working days upon application verification.
The Department verifies the application online based on the following criteria:
Ensure that the details in the application is the same as the Pesticides Registration Certificate i.e. trade name, active ingredients, percentage concentration, formulations and company name
Consignor name must be the same as the gazette manufacturer
Consigned from must be the same as the consignor's address
Gazette date of pesticide registration must be valid that is within five years of gazette date.
10.2 Importation for educational or research purpose
An unregistered pesticide may only be imported in a limited quantity for educational or research purposes, or as a registration sample or in the form of analytical standard by means of an import permit as provided for under the Pesticides (Importation for Educational and Research Purposes) Rules 1981. Copies of the "Guidelines on Application for Permit to Import Pesticides for Educational and Research Purposes" are available from the Secretary of the Pesticides Board upon request.
Application for the importation of unregistered pesticides for the purpose of research and education, or as pesticide analytical standards can be obtained from the Pesticides Board.
Application for import permit must be in the application form (Form A , Regulation3)
10.3 Penalties
It is illegal under the Pesticide Act 1974, to import and/or manufacture pesticides without any valid registration approval from the Pesticides Board. Any person, if found guilty of importing or manufacturing any pesticide without valid registration approval, is liable on a first conviction, to imprisonment for 5 years or to a fine of RM50,000 and, on a second or subsequent conviction, to prison for 10 years or to a fine of RM100,000 or both.
11 Manufacturing for export purposed
If the pesticide is solely manufactured for export, registration approval is not required, provided it contains an active ingredient which is at the time registered with the Pesticides Board. It is the duty of the manufacturers to check with the Pesticides Board, to confirm if such an active ingredient is already registered in Malaysia.
