China to Battle Pesticide Misuse, Counterfeiting
27 July 2011 In an effort to combat unsafe use of pesticides in its own country, China’s legislative body has released a draft of new regulations.
The proposal comes after a string of incidents in which the misuse of agrochemical and organic products caused health concerns among the Chinese population, according to China Daily.
New, stringent regulations would require manufacturers to revise operational procedures to improve quality standards through the recording of raw materials, and local authorities would have closer oversight in the manufacturing process, including the ability to ban or limit certain formulations.
Currently, more than 27,000 pesticides are registered in the country, compared to 9,747 in 2009, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. With more than 2,000 Chinese companies producing these chemicals, it has become progressively harder for the government to regulate the creation and distribution of agrochemicals, which has caused subpar formulations to escape into the global market.
New guidelines and procedures will be a step forward in battling worldwide counterfeit pesticide use, which makes up about 5% to 10%, or about $4 billion of the global pesticide market. Once these new regulations are established, companies producing illegal products will come under closer scrutiny and will hopefully begin to disappear.
In addition, other countries will be able to create better processes to regulate agrochemical imports in an effort to identify and prevent subpar products from entering the market.
For more information, visit the China Legislative Information Network.
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