On 1  April 2017, Chinese  Prime Minister Li Keqiang issued  State Council Decree 677 promulgating the revised pesticide regulation, “Regulation for the control of Agrochemicals（aka: Regulation on Pesticide Administration）”, which will take effect on 1 June 2017. The move is part of an overall regulatory/legislative/administrative reform in China in which authority is being centralized replacing China’s historical predilection of dividing labor between several different regulatory authorities.  

On 20 Mar 2017, China MoA circulated an official letter concerning the formation of the 9th National Committee on Pesticide Registration. In response to the newly revised pesticide regulation and the expiration of the 8th Committee, MoA plans to assemble a new group of experts to conduct technical review of pesticide registration. The new committee will be composed of about 130 experts recommended by MIIT, MEP, NHFPC, AQSIQ, SAWS and CFDA. MoA is responsible for the committee organizational structure, personnel and verification of the qualifications of experts.

By the end of 2016, Chinese pesticide exportation totaled 1,373,452.93 million tons, amounting to some 5.6 billion USD, representing consecutive year-over-year declines of 9.08% and 22.88% respectively. During the first half of the year, the volume and value fell a further 21.8% and 33% compared with the same period a year earlier. Overall the market decline in H1 was slightly offset by a rebound in H2. large Fig 1.China Pesticide Exportaion-volume and value of techinical and formulations from 2011-2016 The value of exports has been enhanced by exportation of more formulated products than technical materials and the percentage of formulations has grown from 53.58% in 2011 to 64.07% in 2016. Another aspect to note is that purchases were clustered around a few key trade partners. The value percentage of formulated product imported by the top 10 export destinations saw a 7% increase over the last 3 years, indicating that Chinese producers are oriented toward several lucrative markets. large Fig 2.China Pesticide Exportation-value percentage of techinal and formulations sourced by top 10 destinations formulations(2014-2016) Of all the 160 destination countries/regions worldwide, the top 30 destinations sourced over 80% of the pesticide. Asia sourced 45.293 tons or 1.74 billion USD of pesticides from China, followed by Latin America, Africa, North America, Europe and Australasia. The percentage of each continent varied little in both volume and value terms compared with the same period last year. large Fig.3 China Pesticide Exportation-Volume and Value Percentages of Pesticide Imported by Regions 2015vs2016 The top 14 Asian destination countries sourced 28.1% of the pesticides: India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia, Israel, Turkey, Singapore, Iran, Korea, Philippine and Bangladesh; The major destinations in Latin America were: Brazil, Argenti

On 10 Feb 2017, China MEP published the draft of “Effluent Standards for Pollutants for Pesticide Industry” for consultation until 26 Mar 2016. The draft specifies the names, determination methods and emission limits of general and typical pollutants to be monitored and controlled during pesticide production and wastewater treatment, as well as the emission limit per unit of output for the production of specific pesticides.

On February 8th, 2017, Premier Li Keqiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council, during which the draft of the revised Regulations on Pesticide Administration was released. The draft document focuses on the quality and safety of agricultural products.

On 23 Dec 2016, China MoA released the meeting-minutes of the 20th session of the 8 National Expert Committee of Pesticide Registration, which concluded on 2 Dec in Beijing. A total of 36 pesticides using 18 new active ingredients were reviewed for full registration. 18 pesticides using 9 new active ingredients were approved, of which 4 herbicides were submitted by Bayer CropScience: Triafamone, Terfuryltrione, Flurtamone and Flufenacet.

On 28 Dec 2016, China MoA submitted the “Implementation Plan for the Integrated Management of Hazardous Pesticides” to the General Office of the State Council. The submission was in response to its circular on the Plan for the Integrated Management of Hazardous Chemicals, which was issued at the end of November.

On 18 Dec 2016, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Food and Drug Administration jointly issued the “Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticide in Food (GB 2763-2016)”, replacing (GB 2763-2014). Meanwhile, 106 mandatory test methods for pesticide residue detection were also released under GB 23200-2016 series to support the implementation.

On 23 Dec 2016, China ICAMA issues the 14th batch of pesticide registration to be approved in 2016 for public consultation until 29 Dec 2016.

On 12 Dec 2016, China ICAMA issue the 13th batch of pesticide registration to be approved in 2016 for public consultation until 18 Dec 2016. 8 pesticides are to approved under full registration in this batch.