On March 3, 2021, Annex III, the list of unacceptable co-formulants, was published in fulfillment of Article 27 of the Plant Protection Products Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009. The accompanying regulation (EU) 2021/383 entered into force on March 24, 2021. The consequence of this is that from March 24, 2023, no plant protection products and additives may be on the market to which the substances on the list have been added as co-formulants. For unacceptable substances that end up in the product as a co-formulant-borne impurity, a threshold value of 0.1% by weight of the whole product applies.

On March 24, 2021, French pesticide authority ANSES published the follow-up measures for the list of co-formulants banned in plant protection products (PPP), an amendment to Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 which was published on March 3. Affecting applicants and authorization holders are required to apply for a non-significant change of composition to maintain the authorization process or existing authorization.

On 12 May 2020, the Pakistan government notified the WTO it has finalized the impending implementation of the national standard for instant hand sanitizers and disinfectants based on alcohol ingredients.

Uruguay pesticide importation (including formulations, TCs/TKs and adjuvants) decreased from 146.38 million USD in 2015 to 135.29 million USD in 2016. Import value grew from 61.89 million USD in 2006 and reached a peak of 254.03 million USD in 2014. Although importation value has been unstable, the percentages of product categories were generally stable. Herbicide accounted for 60% of the total value, followed by fungicide (16%), insecticide (10%) and others (10%).

On 22 Nov 2016, Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS) released the “List of biochemical, microbial, botanical and miscellaneous pesticides recognized as low risk”. A total of 62 biopesticides are included into the list, of which 33 are botanicals, 5 are biochemical, 19 are microbial and 5 are miscellaneous. The included biopesticides will be subject to data waiving during pesticide registration. The list was compiled under the “Regulation for the Registration, Import and Export Authorization and Export Certification of Pesticides, Plant Nutrients and Toxic and Hazardous Substances and Materials”. The regulation was revised in 2014, which requires COFEPRIS to publish the low risk bio pesticides. These low risk biopesticides are exempt from certain requirements relating to generation of toxicological, ecotoxicological and physical and chemical property data during registration. The levels of exemption available can vary depending on the originality, mechanism and nature of the biopesticide. Table1: Comparison on the Technical Data Required for the Registration of Low Risk/Non-Low Risk Biopesticides in Mexico

According to a survey result revealed by a local newspaper, La Nación, total sales of Argentine agrochemical companies were 2.4 billion USD in 2015, a significant decrease of 16.7% on the previous year of 2.9 billion USD. The five largest companies: Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, Bayer and Athanor suffered revenue decline of 455.1 million USD, representing 92.2% of the market decline.

Last week, during the 33rd Near East and North Africa meeting hold in Roma, FAO and WHO have released new guidelines aimed at reducing the damage done by pesticides that pose especially high toxic risks to human health and the environment. 

New pesticides guidance has been finalised that harmonises the way terrestrial field dissipation studies (TFDs) are conducted in different regions of the world. The guidance was developed for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by a working group led by EFSA, the US Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada.     

The US EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) have released jointly developed Residue Chemistry Data Evaluation Record (DER) templates that replace the 2001 templates. 

After Zero Growth of Pesticide Policies was issued, more and more Chinese pesticide manufacturers are trying to explore international market and achieved progress. In 2014, the total pesticide exportation volume from China to Latin America is 0.5 million tons valuing 35.8 billion USD. There are many countries in Latin America and Chinese manufacturers have covered 32 out of 34 Latin countries. The export value to top 10 countries accounts for more than 90% total export value. The well-performed manufacturers include Rainbow Chem., Fuhua Tongda, Youth Chem., Wynca, Red Sun, Ninhuang, and Jiangshan Argochem exporting more than 1 billion USD respectively.