Review of New Policies on Pesticide Registration Management in China for 2023

Pesticides, as important means of production serving agricultural production, play a crucial role in the development of agriculture in China. The Pesticide Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (ICAMA) have increased policy research in line with the current situation and formulated relevant measures to promote the development of pesticides. CIRS Group has summarized and reviewed the main regulations and policies of China's pesticide registration management in 2023 as follows:

January

On January 29, 2023, the Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued an opinion on the determination of 4-(trifluoromethyl) nicotinamide, stating that 4-(trifluoromethyl) nicotinamide is a metabolite of flonicamid with insecticidal activity. The United States and the European Union have included it in the definition of flonicamid residues in food. Some pesticide companies have applied for or obtained patents for insecticidal compositions containing this compound, targeting pests such as mosquitoes, cotton aphids, whiteflies, and rice-brown planthoppers. This compound is used to prevent and control insect pests that harm agriculture and forestry and should be managed as a pesticide according to Article 2 of the Pesticide Management Regulations.

On January 30, 2023, to deeply implement the State Council's "streamlining administration, delegating power, and improving services" reform requirements, optimize pesticide registration management services, ensure the principal responsibility of pesticide registration applicants, standardize pesticide registration intermediary agents, manage the submission of pesticide registration application materials and the effective connection of approval information feedback, and truly enhance the precision, scientific nature, and fairness of pesticide registration management services, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs plans to establish a pesticide registration information officer contact mechanism.

March

On March 10, 2023, the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (ICAMA) announced the opening of a technical consultation email, yjsfw@agri.gov.cn, where pesticide registration information officers and contacts of pesticide registration testing units can report technical issues encountered during pesticide registration, registration testing, and the accreditation process of testing units.

May

On May 6, 2023, the Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued an opinion stating that fertilizers labeled with "yield-increasing amine" fall within the scope of pesticide management. "Yield-increasing amine," chemically named 2-(3,4-dichlorophenoxy) triethylamine (DCPTA), can enhance plant photosynthetic efficiency and disease resistance and can be used as a plant growth regulator. Products named "yield-increasing amine (DCPTA)" with labels stating "incorporating yield-increasing amine (DCPTA)" and "regulating growth, increasing yield and resistance" fall within the scope of pesticide management and should be managed as pesticides according to law.

On May 12, 2023, to further implement the "streamlining administration, delegating power, and improving services" reform requirements, improve service methods, and enhance service levels, the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs（ICAMA）announced the "Open Day for Enterprises" activity. This activity provides face-to-face communication and exchange on registration technical issues encountered with new pesticides, new products, and new technologies, enhancing mutual understanding of relevant technical issues, discussing and proposing rational suggestions.

On the same day, May 12, 2023, the Pesticide Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a letter seeking public comments on the "Pesticide Registration Management Measures (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" No. MARA (Pesticide) [2023] 34. Compared to the current "Pesticide Registration Management Measures," the main difference is the explicit requirement that applications for the registration of technical grade active ingredients(TGAIs) must obtain the corresponding pesticide production license. The TGAI used for pesticide formulation registration needs to be legally produced, i.e., it requires the corresponding pesticide production license. Without a pesticide production license, the registration will not be renewed. If the scope of the production license does not match the pesticide registration certificate, the registration will be suspended; if the corresponding production license scope cannot be obtained within five years, the registration will not be renewed. For new pesticides urgently needed for disease and pest control, test reports issued by overseas laboratories may be used after expert assessment.

On May 19, 2023, the Planting Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a letter seeking comments on the "Pesticide Production License Management Measures (Revised draft for public comment)".

June

On June 15, 2023, the Pesticide Management Department issued a letter seeking comments on the "Pesticide Labeling and Manual Management Measures (Revised draft for public comment)" No. MARA (Pesticide) [2023] 44. Compared with the current "Pesticide Labeling and Manual Management Measures," the main differences include the requirement that herbicides registered for use in genetically modified crops should label the applicable genetically modified crops and transgenic names; for crops resistant to herbicides through gene editing, the corresponding applicable crop variety names should be labeled; if specific adjuvants need to be added during use, their information should be labeled; pesticides exported to China should label the manufacturing enterprise; the method of use should be specified, indicating the pesticide application methods such as spraying, broadcasting, seed dressing, fumigation, etc.; the scope of pesticides that do not need to label the safety interval period should be more detailed: such as pesticides for seed treatment of crops with a growth period of more than three months, soil treatment before seedling and applied at the seedling stage; targeted and fixed-point deployment of rodenticides that are not used for full broadcasting; pesticide labels and manuals must not use unregistered brand logos or trademarks, and the same manufacturing enterprise can only use one brand logo or trademark.

On June 16, 2023, the Pesticide Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs published a letter seeking comments on the "Pesticide Registration Test Management Measures (Revised draft for public comment)" No. MARA (Pesticide) [2023] 45. The most important impact is to achieve traceability of registration tests, and the test samples used for registration application should be samples taken on-site from the production line.

On June 21, 2023, the Pesticide Management Department issued a letter seeking comments on the "Pesticide Business License Management Measures (Revised draft for public comment)" No. MARA (Pesticide) [2023] 47.

July

On July 25, 2023, to standardize the service behavior of pesticide registration consultant agents, ensure the orderly conduct of related work such as pesticide registration testing, pesticide registration application, and review, and ensure the scientific, effective, fair, and just pesticide registration approval, the Pesticide Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a letter seeking comments on the "Pesticide Registration Consultant Service Management Standards (Revised draft for public comment)".

August

On August 14, 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the establishment of the Tenth National Pesticide Registration Review Committee.

September

On September 7, 2023, the Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a letter seeking opinions on taking prohibition management measures for four highly toxic pesticides such as omethoate, No. MARA [2023] 5. In order to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products, human and animal safety, and ecological and environmental safety, based on the relevant provisions of the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Pesticide Management Regulations," after risk assessment and deliberation by the National Pesticide Registration Review Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs plans to take prohibition management measures for four highly toxic pesticides such as omethoate, carbofuran, methomyl, and aldicarb. Starting from December 1, 2023, the issuing authority will revoke the registration of omethoate, carbofuran, methomyl, and aldicarb formulation products, prohibit production, and the legally produced products can be sold and used within the quality guarantee period, and sales and use will be prohibited starting from December 1, 2025; only the production and export of technicals by the original pesticide manufacturing enterprises will be retained, and closed operation management will be implemented.

On September 12, 2023, the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs（ICAMA）issued a letter seeking comments on the agricultural industry standards related to pesticide registration environmental impact tests, namely the "Pesticide Registration Environmental Impact Test Biological Test Material Cultivation Part 10: Ladybird (Draft for Comments)".

November

On November 22, 2023, the Pesticide Registration Information (2023 Issue No. 30) indicated that the registered use range of products containing thifluzamide is for rice sheath blight and rice false smut. Considering the poor activity and efficacy of thifluzamide against the pathogen of rice false smut, only the registration renewal on rice sheath blight is retained.

December

On December 26, 2023, the Planting Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the Announcement No. 736 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, deciding to take prohibition measures for four highly toxic pesticides such as omethoate, carbofuran, methomyl, and aldicarb, with the following specific measures: Starting from June 1, 2024, the registration of formulation products containing omethoate, carbofuran, methomyl, and aldicarb will be revoked, production is prohibited, and sales and use will be prohibited starting from June 1, 2026; the production and export of technical by the original pesticide manufacturing enterprises will be retained, and the existing registration will be changed to export-only registration, implementing closed operation management; carbofuran technical as the raw material for producing carbosulfan and benfuracarb technical material can be supplied in a fixed-point manner between carbofuran and carbosulfan , benfuracarb technical material manufacturing enterprises, under closed operation; methomyl technical material as the raw material for producing thiodicarb technical material can be supplied in a fixed-point manner between methomyl and thiodicarb technical material manufacturing enterprises, under closed operation.

On December 27, 2023, the Pesticide Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued MARA (Pesticide) [2023] 99, a letter seeking opinions on the management measures for pesticide granule products, proposing the following management measures: Implement classification management. Except for registration for controlling soil-borne diseases and underground pests, in principle, no new registrations for controlling above-ground pests through soil application of pesticide granules will be added; develop an applicable catalog. The "Pesticide Granule Products Applicable Scope Guidance Catalog" (hereinafter referred to as the "Catalog") will be formulated, and the pests listed in the "Catalog" can be registered for pesticide granule products. However, the registration of pesticide granule products in the "Catalog" for controlling weeds in paddy fields, special control targets, and specific application sites should be strictly controlled; clean up already registered products within a time limit. For already registered pesticide granule products that do not meet the requirements of the "Catalog" and need to be changed or canceled (Annex 2), the registration certificate holder can apply for expanding the use range registration for the corresponding control targets in the "Catalog," and the submitted materials need to meet the "Pesticide Registration Data Requirements." Starting from January 1, 2026, the registration of pesticide granule products outside the "Catalog" will no longer be retained, and sales and use will be prohibited starting from January 1, 2028.

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