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:

With the worsening of China’s PM 2.5 problems, there is an urgent need of effective governance against pollutant emission which must be achieved by improving the compulsory standard targeting specific industries. In China, 50% of the PM 2.5 particulates are directly released as emissions, while the other half is generated indirectly from the waste byproducts of various industries. These indirect precursor substances, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are usually transformed through sunlight and heat into, nitrates, sulfates and aerosols and are a hugely overlooked and under regulated factor in PM 2.5 formation. As the majority of VOCs are attributable to pesticide production, a national standard, the “Air Emission Standard for Pesticide Industry” is being developed, which could support the newly promulgated “National Standard of Ambient Air Quality”.

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

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.

China’s Regulations on Pesticide Administration (Decree 326 of the State Council) was promulgated and enacted on 29 November 2001. It is the overarching legislation for the pesticide sector, aiming to control the production, registration, marketing and use of pesticides. On 20 July 2011, a draft proposal to amend the regulation was released for public consultation. Late last year, officials from the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals (ICAMA), which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), made numerous announcements on the impending promulgation of the final version (see Chemlinked News Released on Nov 16 2012). However, after being all but approved by the standing committee of the State Council, barring a signature from the council chairman, the legislative process has come to an abrupt halt. According to MoA’s working programme, which was released in April 2013, the regulation may fall at the last legislative hurdle. This is perhaps unsurprising, given recent leadership changes and the need for consensus across a number of different authorities. Cross-ministry management It is necessary to register all pesticides with the MoA prior to placing them on the market. The agricultural department under the State Council is responsible for the registration, supervision and control of pesticides throughout the country. Registration of new pesticides, when they are first produced or imported, consists of field trials, then temporary registration and finally full registration. ICAMA is responsible for reviewing the dossiers, then collecting technical suggestions and a decision from the National Committee of Pesticide Registration. If the registration process is successful, the MoA will issue a registration certificate of Pesticide Registration, known as ICAMA Registration. In addition to pesticide registration, enterprises producing, formulating or repacking pesticides within the territory of China must obtain manufacturing approval from the Mi

On August 15 2013, Taiwan Council of Agricultural (COA), Executive Yuan issued the Announcement 1021487388 and Announcement 1021487384 to ban the fosthiazate 75% EC and restrict 3 other formulated products.

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.