On March 1 2014, the industrial standard, “HG T4576-2013-Limitation of Harmful Solvents for Emulsifiable Concentrates Pesticide Preparations” became effective.

China National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center (NATESC) released results of a study investigating brown rice planthopper’s resistance to Buprofenzin. The study revealed that the insect has developed “high” or "extremely high” resistance to Buprofenzin. NATESC also advised that the insecticide may no longer be suitable for protecting rice against brown planthopper.

According to the Agricultural and Rural Commission of the National People’s Congress, the Ministry of Agricultural is to address fertilizer regulations and is currently engaged in cross sector talks with relevant ministries and governmental bodies.

The rat race has forced China to upgrade its portfolio with new molecules and technology. Since 7th FYP (from 1985 to 1989), 50 new active ingredients have been developed by Chinese institutes or pesticide companies, which included 14 insecticides, 25 fungicides, 8 herbicides and 3 plant growth regulators. The name, category, inventor, patent and registration status and producer of these new active ingredients are summarized in the table below:

On Jan 24 2014, China MEP announced that the “Comprehensive Catalog for Environmental Protection (2013)” was compiled and circulated among 13 departments. 49 pesticides were listed as the “Dual High” products, including imidacloprid, atrazine, abamectin and other export-oriented products.

On Jan 14 2014, MoA circulated the meeting minutes of 14th plenary session of the 8th National Expert Committee for Pesticide Registration.The conference ultimately leads to full registration of 10 active ingredients granted, including Dupont’s novel insecticide, cyantraniliprole.

In 2013, 83.6% of Chinese pesticides met the minimum quality standard, according to a MoA report which outlined results taken from the second part of MoA’s quality monitoring initiative on pesticide products. This figure was down from 87.3% in the same period in 2012, a statistic which is indicative of MoA’s heightened regulatory supervision. A total of 3404 samples and 3417 labels from 2145 distributors and 998 manufacturers were tested. MoA found that 2846 samples met quality standards but 26% of labels were incorrectly labeled. These products have been registered for various crops, including soybean, maize, rice, wheat, fruit tree, vegetable, tea and cotton, etc. Among the 3404 samples tested under quality standards, 2053 were insecticides, 725 fungicides, 568 herbicides and 58 miscellaneous. 84.6% of the single formulated products met quality standards while 80.3% of combination products met quality standards. The information is summarized in the following table:

On January 13, 2014 China ICAMA issued a notice for public comment announcing the full registration of 117 products, which contains  information on the applicants name, product name, active ingredient(s), content, formulation type, toxicity, crop range, target, dosage and application method.

On January 7 2014, China ICAMA released a notice on its website detailing the procedures for revoking pesticide registration on certain products, which were banned or restricted under “MoA’s Announcement 2032”.

Recently, China MoA issued Announcement 2032 which bans or restricts seven active ingredients. Li Wenxing, Division Director of pesticide management from the department of crop production of the MoA, explains the rationale and impact on China’s crop protection industry as well as suitable alternates to these pesticides.