In this article REACH24H’s Agrochemical department will offer a distillate of years of experience helping our clients register pesticides in China and share and troubleshoot the most frequently asked questions and problems encountered complying with China’s new pesticide regulatory system.

On 29 Oct 2018, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs invited a 30-day consultation on 203 MRLs for 65 pesticide active ingredients.

On March 20, 2018, the South Korean government officially promulgated law No. 15511 (K-BPR), which will be officially put into effect on January 1, 2019, with a sub-decree to be issued in December. On September 3, 2018, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) of South Korea held a seminar to assist with the interpretation of K-BPR and to discuss implementation details. The first Biocidal Substance Information Exchange Forum (Biocidal SIEF) was officially held on September 20-21, 2018. Biocidal SIEF is a voluntary organization of manufacturers and importers in Korea which participate in the regulatory implementation. The seminar and SIEF outlined the main K-BPR concerns put forward by companies, and MoE provided valuable answers.

Rice contributes to 60% of the world’s grain supply and rice growing/consumption regions tend have the largest populations and largest economies in the world. Given the likelihood of increased global demand for rice, we can expect a concomitant increase in the paddy herbicide market, which already accounts for 40% of the plant protection products used. The paddy herbicide market is characterized by diverse combinations of active ingredients and is influenced by multiple factors such as climate, agricultural practices, and agricultural development level, national food security policies and international trade. To help readers better comprehend this niche and variable market, this analysis summarizes the scale and characteristics of rice plantation, herbicide use and market conditions in the major rice growing regions globally. The global rice growing area was 160.1 million hectares in 2016, up 0.8% year-on-year. The overall plantation area has been stable in recent years. Rice is universally planted in temperate and tropical regions and the top rice-growing country is India, followed by China, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand. India was second behind China in rice output due to its moderate productivity of 2.6 ton per hectare. China is the largest and the most efficient rice producer with an annual output of 144.9 million tons and boasts a per unit output of 4.8 ton per hectare. large Plantation Area, Output adn Annual Changes in Major Rice Growing Countries in 2016 Rice price, inventory, weather condition and currency exchange rate are the major factors affecting rice plantation and paddy herbicide market. In 2016, the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines have increased rice area while the plantation decreased in India, Japan, Pakistan and Brazil. Although rice price was low, the weather condition was conducive to high overall production volume in Asia. Self-sufficiency policies in Indonesia and Malaysia also he

On 25 Oct 2018, China MoARA released the 1st batch of testing institutes for pesticide registration experimentation. A total of 26 labs have been approved to conduct studies covering product chemistry, efficacy, toxicology, residue, and environmental impact.

On 12 Oct 2018, China NHC released the hygienic standard “WS 628-2018 Technical Requirements for the hygiene and safety evaluation of disinfection products”, which will be mandatorily implemented starting on the 1st of Mar 2019. The new standard includes some technical amendments to a former ministerial regulation, “Rules on the Hygienic and Safety Assessment on Disinfection Products”. Prior to marketing existing Category I and Category II disinfection products in China, producers and importers need to conduct hygiene and safety assessment and file the assessment report at provincial health departments. WS 628-2018 will be enforced in parallel with the ministerial rules. Producers and importers need to comply with the technical requirements in product testing, sample preparation and report compilation and follow the administrative requirements set forth in the rules.

The European Union authorisation is a new form of authorization which was recently introduced into the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), promulgated on 1st September, 2013. Based on the new article, this Union-level authorization will allow products to be sold in all EU countries at one same time. This will simplify the assessment of applications and reduce the cost and time required compared with the reporting route of obtaining national authorizations in multiple member states.

In 2017, China promulgated series of new pesticide regulations and significantly raised the market threshold with added data, elevated criteria and narrowed acceptance scope. It is also the first time that MoARA will have to disclose quality standard code and testing method for registered pesticide, which constitute an important part of product chemistry data. Mr. Huang Qiliang from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences joined CRAC 2018 conference in Chengdu to summarize and compare the critical points in dossier preparation for traditional chemical pesticides and biopesticides, as well as introduce the latest official guidelines for pesticide testing and method validation.

On 21 Aug 2018, Taiwan BAPHIQ (Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan) concluded a technical advisory meeting regarding chlorpyrifos dietary risk mitigation measures. An injunction forbidding its uses on 13 agricultural commodities is expected to be publically consulted on in September.

On 23 Aug 2018, China MoARA consulted on proposed bans of 4 highly toxic insecticides: phorate, aldicarb, isocarbophos and sulfluramid.