ICAMA has halted renewal of pesticide registration for products manufactured solely for the purpose of export.

On April 3 2014, China Ministry of Environmental Protection released the final version of the “Catalogue of Hazardous Chemical of Priority Environmental Concern” (HCPEC List). A total of 9 pesticide active ingredients are included in the final list, compared with the previous draft list which contained 12 active ingredients and 3 formulated products.

According to the MoA, the ministry and the NHFPC have jointly issued the “Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticide in Food (GB2763-2014)”. As the unique and compulsory food safety standard in China, GB 2763-2014 consists of 3,650 limits of 387 pesticide active ingredients, which is a significant increase from the MRL standard in 2012 of just 2,293 limits.

On March 12 2014, China MoA issued a circular to its provincial subordinates specifying the work program of its impending quality supervision campaign targeting pesticide producers and distributors.

On March 21 2014, China ICAMA held a meeting in Beijing beginning the first round of talks on development of guidance for quality testing of pesticide products: the “Guidance for the Full-Component Analysis on the Technical Material for Pesticide Registration”, the “Guidance on 22 Physical-Chemical Test Items for Pesticide” and the “Guidance for Validation of Analysis Methods for Pesticide Registration”.

On March 21, 2014, China ICAMA issued a notice on its website to its provincial level subordinates and other authorities involved in pesticide management to consult on the list of pesticide products subject to registration reassessment.

The acreage of arable land assigned to rice cultivation in China now exceeds 33 million hectare. Almost 50% of the total volume is subject to serious threats from weeds. The most significant threats in China are represented by: gramineous weeds (18 varieties), cyperaceae weeds (21), broadleaved weeds (81) and algae weeds (3).

China pesticide exports rose by 8.4% to some 8.523 Billion USD in 2013, according to figures compiled by the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, MoA (China ICAMA). That compares with exports totaling some 7.86 Billion USD in 2012. Though imports jumped by 23% to 698 million USD, China still maintains a considerable trade surplus of 7.8 Billion USD in the pesticide sector.

On 3 Mar 2014, AQSIQ issued Announcement 19 of 2014 to revise the “Implementing Rules of Manufacturing License on Pesticide”, an important implementation rules for AQSIQ’s enforcement of production license for pesticide producers. Four formulation types and 14 product varieties were newly include into AQSIQ’s regulatory scope.

On the 4th of Mar. 2014, China ICAMA hosted a working session in Yinchuan to outline the 2014 working schedule and roadmap of pesticide management. The meeting was attended by over 100 provincial level administrative officials.On the 4th of Mar. 2014, China ICAMA hosted a working session in Yinchuan to outline the 2014 working schedule and roadmap of pesticide management. The meeting was attended by over 100 provincial level administrative officials.