On 29 Dec 2017, China ICAMA opened a 60-day consultation on the” Pesticide guidelines for large area field efficacy trials”. China implemented new registration data requirements on 1 Nov 2017 in which a 1-year large area efficacy trial conducted in 2 different administrative regions will be required for registration of new agricultural and environmental use pesticides of chemical, biochemical, microbial and botanical origin.

On 25 Dec 2017, China MOA and MEP jointly solicited public comments on a draft of “Administration Measures for the Recycling and Disposal of Pesticide Packaging Waste”. The draft defines the obligation and requirements on the collection, transportation, transfer, storage and disposal of pesticide packaging waste. The expense will be borne by pesticide producers and dealers.

No.1 Top-down Renewal of Pesticide Regulations in China On 8 Feb 2017, China’s State Council approved the revised draft of “Regulation on the Administration of Pesticides”, which was implemented as of 1 Apr. Thereafter, 5 administrative measures were released in the form of ministerial regulations concerning the registration experimentation, registration, production, marketing and labeling of pesticide. On September, 6 supporting documents were issued under series of MoA Announcements. These productive legislative actions constitute a comprehensive regime of product registration and 3-element licensing system of pesticide: State Council Decree Ministerial Regulation MoA Announcement Decree 677- Regulation on the Administration of Pesticide MoA Order 3 of 2017 "Administrative Measures for the Registration of Pesticide" MoA Order 4 of 2017 "Administrative Measures for the Production License of Pesticide" MoA Order 5 of 2017 "Administrative Measures for the Marketing License of Pesticide" MoA Order 6 of 2017 "Administrative Measures for the Registration Experimentation of Pesticide" MoA Order 7 of 2017 "Administrative Measures for Pesticide Labels and Manuals" MoA Announcement 2569 "Data Requirement on Pesticide Registration" MoA announcement 2567-"Catalogue of Restricted Pesticides (Version 2017)" MoA announcement 2568-" Rules for the Inspection on Pesticide Production License"; MoA announcement 2579-"Announcement concerning the Format and Generation of 2D Codes on Pesticide Labels";  MoA announcement 2570-"Rules for the Accreditation on Testing Facilities for Pesticide Registration & Good Laboratory Practice for the Experimentation of Pesticide Registration" (2 document)

On 4 Dec 2017 China MIIT opened a 30-day consultation on the pending mandatory standard, “Fertilizer Grading and Requirements”. Depending on hazard identification result and harmful substance content, all fertilizers will be rated and labeled as ecological grade fertilizer, field grade fertilizer and garden grade fertilizer, which correspond to their permitted application area of organic agriculture, ordinary agriculture and garden use respectively.   All commercial fertilizers will be labeled and rated as ecological grade, field grade and garden grade, which correspond to their permitted application area of organic agriculture, ordinary agriculture and garden use respectively; Fertilizers with higher grade are subject to more stringent requirements on hazards, maximal limits of heavy metals, organic and microbial contaminants and veterinary antibiotics; Terrestrial plant growth test would be required for novel products prior to the placement on the market; Disclosure of plant growth hormone ingredient and raw materials in ecological grade fertilizers will be mandatorily required;

On 27th Nov 2017, China MoA officially released the expert panelists of the 9th National Committee on Pesticide Registration. The panelists were nominated on the commendation of government departments including MIIT, MEP, NHFPC, AQSIQ, SAWS and CFDA to fit specific personnel composition requirements as designated by the MoA earlier this year. Nominations were open to public consultation since 17th of October 2017. The new committee will offer technical advice in accordance with the new data requirements, which entered into force on 1 Nov 2017.

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.

Dozens of Shandong pesticide producers have already been ordered to halt operations starting from 15 Nov 2017 to 15 Mar 2018. Moreover, Jilin, Sichuan and Henan provinces have also joined the campaign meaning 34 cities in 8 provinces are now affected. In these regions there are hundreds of pesticide and intermediate producers in various scales so we can expect high prices to continue throughout next year.

On 10 Nov 2017, China ICAMA opened a 30-day consultation on the “Guideline on Pesticide Residue Trials on Crop”. As a vital component of pesticide management, residue trial provides scientific justification for MRL development and good agricultural practice for pesticide application, which is of great significance in ensuring food safety.

On 2 Nov2017, China ICAMA released 3 draft guidelines for health risk assessment of pesticide and will solicit public opinion until 2 Dec 2017. All drafts are compiled under voluntary agricultural standards.

China’s pesticide MRL regulatory framework (the maximum concentrations of pesticide residues in foods) is underdeveloped compared with other major economies and fails to adequately meet food safety and international trade requirements. China plans to establish 10,000 MRLs by 2020, based on this and on historical trends it is possible to offer the following predictions with regard to future developments in China’s MRL system: Fruits and vegetables will be given priority over grains Proprietary and off-patent pesticides will have MRLs added Prohibited and high risk pesticides will be prioritized Concepts used in Japan’s positive list system which includes population based exposure scenarios and susceptible populations could be implemented As early as 1990, China started pesticide MRL development. Since then numerous MRLs have been developed by China’s various regulatory authorities in the form of national/industrial standards for agricultural produce or food safety/ standards. This multi-sector development has resulted in overlap and inconsistency in both standards, enforcement and supervision. Since 2010, China began the process of reforming it MRL regulatory framework with the aim of deleting, consolidating and updating the MRLs into a unified food safety standard for pesticide MRLs, known as GB 2763. Up to now the standard has been updated three times and the number of MRLs has increased from 873 in 2012 to 4140 in 2016. A total 433 pesticide active ingredients and 286 commodities/ commodity groups are included into GB 2763-2016, covering 70% of the active ingredients approved and most commodities currently consumed in China. Particularly, GB 2763-2016 provides MRLs for all banned/restricted pesticides in all types of commodity. prioritization of fresh edible agriculture produce. Fig.1- Number of MRLs established for Different Commodities 2014 and 2016 Edition Comparison Compa