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 21 Dec 2016, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply(MAPA) issued a departmental measure on the Federal Official Gazette to suspend the authorization of 63 fungicides registered for Asian rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) in soybean. The affected products shall have the recommendation excluded from pesticide label and user manual within 90 days of the announcement.

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 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 16 Dec 2016, The Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency(PMRA) opened a 45-day public consultation on the “Guidance for Preparing Safety Data Sheets According to the Globally Harmonized System of classification and Labelling of Chemicals for Pest Control Products in Canada”. Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) are primarily utilized by workers in workplaces involved in pesticide application and handling, as well as during emergency response, by consumers and those involved in the transportation of dangerous goods. Although implementation of the guidelines in the document is discretionary, it will serve as an initial step in the eventual implementation of mandatory SDS regulatory requirements which will be detailed in a Pest Control Products Act which in future.

IBAMA fined 69 agrochemical companies for failure to submit mandatory data on the volume of pesticide imported, exported, produced or marketed. 17 repeat offenders were also made public by IBAMA

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.

On 22 Nov 2016, Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS) released the “List of biochemical, microbial, botanical and miscellaneous pesticides recognized as low risk”. A total of 62 biopesticides are included into the list, of which 33 are botanicals, 5 are biochemical, 19 are microbial and 5 are miscellaneous. The included biopesticides will be subject to data waiving during pesticide registration. The list was compiled under the “Regulation for the Registration, Import and Export Authorization and Export Certification of Pesticides, Plant Nutrients and Toxic and Hazardous Substances and Materials”. The regulation was revised in 2014, which requires COFEPRIS to publish the low risk bio pesticides. These low risk biopesticides are exempt from certain requirements relating to generation of toxicological, ecotoxicological and physical and chemical property data during registration. The levels of exemption available can vary depending on the originality, mechanism and nature of the biopesticide. Table1: Comparison on the Technical Data Required for the Registration of Low Risk/Non-Low Risk Biopesticides in Mexico

On 3 Nov 2016, Brazil ANVISA hosted a public hearing regarding three daft rules on toxicological evaluation, labeling and toxicological ratings of pesticides and components (adjuvants). Currently, the evaluation and classification are made under ANVISA Ordinance 3 of 1992, which is now incompatible with the technical and scientific developments made over the last 3 decades since its implementation. The proposed replacement of Ordinance 3 and the release of the latest draft rules reflect the desire of Brazilian authorities to align its national standards with global best practices and the current state of the art. In addition to the new data requirements and criterion, the adoption of GHS is one of the major innovations in the new drafts. Data Waiving and Prioritization The drafts emphasize administrative and data requirements for toxicological evaluation of technical product, formulated products and components and offer clear criteria for data waiving and prioritization of certain products: The toxicological study report of biological products can be replaced by relevant scientific literature or studies conducted by public or private research institutions demonstrating adequate safety If the technical product or component has been evaluated/registered with another Brazilian authority which has similar measures and criterion on toxicological evaluation, the results can be used during ANVISA’s evaluation The analysis of low toxicity products (non-skin sensitization, non-skin/eye corrosive/irritating, non-carcinogenicity, non-mutagenicity, non-teratogenic and non-endocrine disruption) will be expedited and prioritized by ANVISA and biological agent, semi -chemicals and microbiological products will be generally considered as low toxicity products. Applicants may apply for the prioritization exclusively through electronic submission; Negative List of Pesticide Components A list of components subject to toxicological evaluation will