By the end of November 2013, the number of pesticide registrations for seed treatment products has reached 375 and it will climb to over 900 in the next two or three years. During a conference in Nanjing, Dr. Li Xianbin from ICAMA revealed that the number of registrations and field trials had more than doubled from last year and more active ingredients and combination technology will be introduced into this booming sector.

China acknowledged the expertise of developed countries/regions such as USA, Canada, Australia, EU and Taiwan in terms of the management over adjuvants and will formulate the list and adopt the classification system on agrochemical adjuvants accordingly. 

On December 16, 2013, China ICAMA (the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agricultural) announced on its website that publicity system on pesticide registration will be implemented from January 1 2014. Before granting pesticide registration, all candidates of temporary registration, full registration and registration of repacking should go through publicity process.

According to an official from MoA, all agricultural uses of methyl bromide will be banned from January 1 2015. During a soil disinfection conference in Guangzhou, Mr. Wang Yanliang, vice Director of the Education and Science Division at MoA introduced China’s initiatives to phase out use of methyl bromide.

Zhejiang’s public security department made clear it unyielding stance on violations of environmental regulations with the announcement that it had concluded its milestone legal proceedings and investigations into two of Zhejiang’s largest glyphosate manufacturers. Some 62 people involved in the case have been transferred into police custody to face criminal prosecution.  high level executives including both Jinfanda’s president and vice general manager and Wynca’s HSE manager are all to face prosecution.

On Dec 9, China MoA issued the Announce 2032 to ban/restrict 7 pesticides:chlorsulfuron,metsufuron-methyl ,ethametsulfuron,asomat, urbacide,chlorpyrifos and triazophos.

On November 22 2013, a workshop was held by China ICAMA in Beijing to discuss the environmental impact of flubendiamide, which would be harmful to aquatic organisms during paddy application. The experts concluded that assessment of risk to daphnia magna as the sole risk assessment criteria is inadequate and further study is required to ensure its safety to aquatic ecosystems and ensure it maintains its registration maintenance. Flubendiamide is a novel insecticide developed by Bayer and Nihon Nohyaku. It has been found to provide excellent control over lepidopterous pests on large number of annual and perennial crops. Currently, China granted 10 pesticide registrations to flubendiamide products, which can be seen as below:

The extent of the price hike in Glyphosate price may have been somewhat exaggerated as recently reflected by a decline in value from 43,000 to 40,000 in September. The relationship between the health and behavior of the Chinese glyphosate industry and global market value are intrinsically linked where any shift in this dynamic equilibrium has a global ripple effect. Chinese producers were expecting Monsanto’s promotion of glyphosate resistant GM crops, along with heavy purchases from Latin America, to fuel a price surge while face the September’s decrease, which would be a well sound alarm bells for investors. The underlying reason for this downward is likely attributed to uncertainty on the stability of future supply and raw material costs, with Chinese regulatory reform still up in the air.

On November 1, 2013, China Crop Protection Industry Association issued an announcement to solicit opinions on the cleaner production index targeting several pesticide sectors, the “Assessment Indicator System of Cleaner Production for Organophosphrous Pesticide Industry (Trial)”. The consultation is opened to affected pesticide manufacturing companies until November 10, 2013.

As a major agrochemical market and the largest agrochemical supplier in the world, China’s pesticide exports rose by 26.8% to some 7.86 billion USD in 2012. Imports amounted to some 560 million USD, reflecting an 8.2% year on year growth rate. Dumping and counterfeit issues have challenged the Chinese industry from both an international trade perspective and a regulatory perspective. On Day two of the AgroChemEx 2013 conference in Shanghai (China International Forum on Procurement and Service of Pesticides), Mr. Zhang Wenjun, Division Director of International Exchange and Service from ICAMA, outlined the current status of the Chinese pesticide industry from a regulatory standpoint and offered interesting statistics on the Import and Export of pesticide in China. Legislative Basis Currently, Chinese regulatory enforcement for import/export control of pesticide relies on Three Laws, Three Regulations, Two International Treaties and One Measure. Laws: Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China (last updated on July 8, 2002); Foreign Trade Law of the People’s Republic of China (first promulgated on May 12, 1994, last updated on April 6, 2004); Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection (first promulgated on April 28 2002, revised in 2013) Regulations: Regulation of the People’s Republic of China on the Administration of the Import and Export of Goods (implemented on January 1, 2002) Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection; Regulation on Pesticide Administration (importation and/or exportation of pesticide within the territory of China should obtain the pesticide registration in China) International Treaties: Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticide in International Trade (approved