On 17 Nov 2017, the Chinese State Council's Legislative Affairs Office released the draft of “Regulation for the Prevention and Management of Agricultural Pests” and will solicit public comments until 17 Dec 2017. The draft was compiled by the MoA and clarifies the responsibilities of government departments at all levels and entities engaged in agricultural production and pest control service, as well as standardizes the practices of pest monitoring, forecast, prevention and control.

Depending on frequency, area and loss severity, agricultural pests will be classified into 3 categories:

• Category I-perennially pest impact an extremely large area which may lead to extremely serious loss in agricultural production. MoA will be responsible of formulating the “List of Category I Agricultural Pests” and developing an appropriate response program

• Category II-perennially pest impact a large area which may lead to serious loss in agricultural production. The Category II list and response program will be compiled by the agricultural department at provincial level and filed to the MoA;

• Category III-Other pests not yet identified as Category I or Category II and the response program will be developed by the agricultural department at county level

In case of serious occurrence of Category I and Category II pests, the expense on pest management will be subsidized by the people's government at the provincial level. Losses incurred by infestations to crops or agriculture produce will be subsidized by the people's government at the county level. Professional pest control services will be encouraged and receive government support. Provisions promoting ecological management, biological and physical control, advanced application equipment, green pesticides and integrated pest management (IPM) are also written into the draft.

Reference Link

News release from State Council's Legislative Affairs Office (in Chinese)