On Day two of the CRAC(REACH24H Chemical Regulatory Annual Conference) 2013 conference in Shanghai, Prof. Chen Tiechun, Division Director of Quality Control from ICAMA (Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture), outlined the framework and achievements made in development of China’s pesticide regulations, as well as the challenges facing this sector in the future. Though regulatory developments are still in their infancy, Chen confirmed that the ICAMA is negotiating with U.S EPA on the development of a MAD (Mutual Acceptance of Data)-like system to govern international trade in the agrochemical sector between China and the United States. Cross Ministry Legislative framework in China In China the most important regulation is undoubtedly the “Regulation on Pesticide Administration”, which was promulgated on May 8 1997 and revised on November 29 2011. In fact, its regulatory predecessor can be traced back to the “Provision on Pesticide Registration”, which was jointly issued in 1982 by the Ministry of Agricultural, the Ministry of Health and the former Ministry of Chemical Industry. Important additional regulations include: “Administrative Permission Law” “Standardization Law” "Product Quality Law” “Trademark Law” “Code of Primary Products Quality Security” “Advertisement Law” “Consumer Protection Act” “Regulations on Administrative Protection of Agricultural Chemical Products” “Regulations on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (Decree 591)” Several Ministry/Administrations are also involved in the control of production, marketing, distribution, use and market promoting of pesticide: Ministry/Administration Regulatory Duties Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) Pesticide r

On Oct 8 2013, the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals under the Ministry of Agriculture (ICAMA) issued a circular “Technical Opinion on Registration Management for Glyphosate and its Salts”, which will be available for public consultation until Oct 20, 2013.

On August 30, 2013, the fourth session of the 12th Standing Committee of the National People’ Congress approved two amendments to the Stockholm Convention. China will fulfill its obligations of eliminating or reducing the release of endosulfan and other nine chemicals, which were added into the annexes of the Convention in 2009 and 2011.

The northern agricultural province Hebei has abolished the registration obligation of all fertilizers from July 1 2013. All subject fertilizer products are freely circulated in the market as long as their producers obtain necessary license and the product meets the quality standard, which would reduce the burden on the shoulder of fertilizer producers and boost the agricultural supplies within the province.

On May 24, China MIIT issued a notice to revoke the manufacturing approvals of 15 arsenic fungicide products due to their inclusion into an “elimination list” (see Chemlinked News Release on Jun 7 2013). However, the revocation does not necessary imply a complete ban as the ICAMA registration of these products are still effective, which means the products are allowed to be sold on the market. ICAMA is considering final steps to eliminate these substances from China.

In June 2013, China glyphosate production stood at 50,800 tons, down by 4% from previous month due to MEP’s newly enacted measures and periodic overhaul among the manufacturing sites. The current price topped 40,000 Yuan ($6,524 at current exchange rates) per ton last week and most of the Chinese producers have suspended quotation offers.The price is expected to continue to rise due to a deliberate supply shortage. 

On Jul 23, 2013, ICAMA invited peer review on the risk assessment report of fly coil incense products. After a briefing on the findings of the assessment conducted by the working group, the experts agreed to adopt the risk assessment report when granting ICAMA registration.

On Jul 2, 0213, China AQSIQ released the Announcement 83 of 2013 to control the use of fumigant in overseas grain carriers. The measures were formulated to protect the field staff of the entry port and prevent food contaminations caused by the uses of fumigant during the transportation. The overseas cargo vessel which transport the grains into China are required to clear the fumigant residue in the ship and notify the handling of fumigant in written form, otherwise, the grain carrier will be forbidden from entering the port or the entry inspection.

During the first half of 2013, the volume and value of China’s glyphosate export have increased by 27.22% and 76.12% and the figure is still climbing. However the rat race led by the production expansion after price elevation looked more fearful to the industry. According to a recent symposium held by CCPIA, the rising price might be a short momentum as the market would soon become oversupplied by the producers. Furthermore, the industry is nervous about the recently enacted environmental verification (See ChemLinked News release on May 28 2013 ) and Wynca’s polluting case.(See ChemLinked News release on Jun 26 2013 )

Minor crops are high in value but usually not widely grown. Therefore, it is usually not profitable for private business to register the pesticide for minor crops as the low sales are insufficient to cover the cost of collecting data for pesticide registration. The situation is not only challenging China’s pesticide management but also  growth of agricultural economy.