The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has issued the “Key Work Points for Pesticide Management in 2019.”

Release Date:

2019-03-12

No. 17 [2019] of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Pesticides) To the Departments (Commissions, Bureaus) of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Agriculture and Animal Husbandry) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, and to the Agricultural Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps: Pesticides are an essential agricultural input, vital to ensuring the safety of agricultural production, the quality and safety of agricultural products, and the protection of the ecological environment. In order to earnestly implement the spirit of the Central Rural Work Conference and the requirements set forth in Document No. 1 issued by the CPC Central Committee, our department has formulated the Key Work Points for Pesticide Management in 2019. These are hereby circulated to you. Please, in light of local conditions, comprehensively strengthen pesticide supervision and management, and promote green and high-quality agricultural development. Department of Pesticide Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs 20

No. 17 [2019] of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Pesticides)

To the Departments (Commissions, Bureaus) of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Agriculture and Animal Husbandry) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, and to the Agricultural Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

Pesticides are an essential input for agricultural production, directly impacting the safety of agricultural output, the quality and safety of food products, and the protection of the ecological environment. In order to earnestly implement the spirit of the Central Rural Work Conference and the requirements set forth in Document No. 1 issued by the CPC Central Committee, our agency has formulated the Key Work Priorities for Pesticide Management in 2019. These priorities are hereby circulated to you; please, in light of local conditions, ensure comprehensive oversight and management of pesticides, thereby promoting green and high-quality agricultural development.

Pesticide Management Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

March 2, 2019

Key Work Priorities for Pesticide Management in 2019

The production, supply, and safe use of pesticides are critical to ensuring food security, the quality and safety of agricultural products, and ecological environmental protection, making pesticide regulation an extremely demanding task. In 2019, the overarching approach to pesticide management was to earnestly implement the spirit of the Central Rural Work Conference and the No. 1 Central Document, adhere to the requirements of the new development philosophy, and comprehensively advance the implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Pesticides. With structural reform on the agricultural supply side as the central thread and high-quality, green pesticide development as the goal, the strategy of “combining short-term and long-term measures, addressing both symptoms and root causes, and integrating regulation with support” was pursued. This involved strengthening innovation in mechanisms, management, technology, and services, while prioritizing the effective implementation of key tasks and measures—such as administrative approval and service for pesticides, industry oversight and guidance, and sustainable industrial development—thereby continuously elevating the level of law-based and scientifically sound pesticide regulation and management, and contributing to green agricultural development and rural revitalization.

I. Implement the new requirements of institutional reform and comprehensively enhance the capacity to perform duties related to pesticides.

1. Clarify the division of responsibilities for pesticide regulation. In accordance with the Regulations and the requirements of the new institutional reform regarding functional adjustments, agricultural and rural departments at all levels shall, in line with the mandate to fully perform their duties related to pesticide registration, production, marketing, use, and quality supervision and management, designate dedicated pesticide management agencies, allocate appropriate staffing and resources, refine the pesticide management system, and enhance their capacity to fulfill their mandates. Furthermore, clearly delineate the specific responsibilities of each unit, coordinate efforts across central–local levels, internal–external departmental boundaries, and within the system, foster synergy, and ensure that regulatory oversight leaves no gaps or blind spots.

2. Vigorously advance the implementation of key tasks. In the first half of the year, preparations were made to convene the National Conference on Pesticide Management, during which participants exchanged information on the implementation of the Regulations and on adjustments to institutional functions across regions, analyzed the challenges facing pesticide management, and outlined plans for future regulatory efforts. At critical junctures in pesticide production, sales, and use, working groups were dispatched to key areas to conduct field investigations and oversight, ensuring that priority regulatory measures are effectively put into practice.

3. Strengthen the publicity and training on pesticide-related laws and regulations. In light of the new management responsibilities and personnel following institutional reforms, vigorously carry out regulatory awareness‑raising and training, with a particular focus on the Regulations and their supporting rules and provisions. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will prioritize training for provincial‑level pesticide management officials; each province will focus on training municipal and county‑level pesticide managers and personnel from manufacturing enterprises; and municipalities and counties will concentrate on educating pesticide retailers and large-scale users. Special emphasis should be placed on intensifying outreach and capacity‑building efforts targeting pesticide producers, operators, and users, so as to comprehensively enhance the level of law‑based pesticide management.

4. Improve the pesticide management system and mechanisms. Accelerate the establishment of a “three‑system, four‑mechanism” framework for pesticide management: focusing on information related to pesticide production, sales, and use, institute an information reporting system; prioritizing production safety, human and animal safety, agricultural product quality and safety, and crop phytotoxicity, establish a major‑accident reporting system; and concentrating on the oversight of illegal production, sales, and use, put in place a mechanism for publicizing violations. At the same time, develop mechanisms for pesticide‑management consultations, corporate integrity, emergency response, and inter‑agency coordination, continuously enhancing the level of law‑based, scientific, standardized, and efficient pesticide management.

II. Implement the new requirements of streamlining administration and delegating power, improving regulatory oversight, and enhancing service delivery, and optimize administrative approval services for pesticides.

5. Promote scientific review processes. In the area of pesticide registration and licensing, further clarify the respective roles, responsibilities, and related requirements at both the ministerial and provincial levels for each stage of the approval process—submission, preliminary review, technical assessment, and committee deliberation—while strictly limiting the registration of new high‑risk pesticides and the renewal of existing registrations, and rigorously controlling the registration of homogeneous, outdated, and inefficient pesticide products. Regarding pesticide production licensing, local authorities should further standardize review criteria, with particular emphasis on assessing policy alignment, site‑layout appropriateness, and the advanced nature of facilities and equipment, while ensuring consistency with environmental protection and workplace safety regulations, thereby guiding the high‑quality development of the pesticide industry. As for business licensing, clearly delineate the approval responsibilities of provincial, municipal, and county authorities, focusing on evaluating the technical competence of operators, facility conditions, and management systems, and emphasizing the coordinated implementation of measures related to the rational placement of retail outlets, pesticide use, and market supervision, so as to promote the standardized development of pesticide retail outlets and enhance their service quality.

6. Promote standardized approval processes. Thoroughly implement the Regulations, further refine the pesticide registration management system, and develop a series of normative documents, including the “Technical Specifications for Pesticide Registration Review,” the “List of Prohibited and Restricted Pesticide Adjuvants,” the “Pesticide Registration Preliminary Review Standards,” and the “Catalogue of Group-Based Trials for Specialty Minor Crops.” Local authorities should expedite the formulation of systems for managing production and business licenses, clearly defining local approval authorities and regulatory responsibilities. Further standardize administrative approvals by publicly releasing service guides and rigorously adhering to the conditions, procedures, time limits, and requirements for public disclosure of outcomes stipulated in these guides, thereby ensuring that administrative approval procedures are lawful.

7. Optimize approval services. Develop and implement a green‑channel policy for the registration of biopesticides and alternative products to highly toxic pesticides, accelerating technical review and approval procedures while ensuring product efficacy and safety, thereby promoting the green development of the pesticide industry. Enhance the administrative approval online service platform, vigorously advance online applications, online approvals, and electronic certificate issuance, and expedite the transition to paperless administrative approval for pesticides.

III. Implement the new requirements for high-quality development and strengthen oversight and guidance of the pesticide industry.

8. Strengthen guidance for the pesticide industry. Organize research on industrial development plans and support policies, and promote the optimization and upgrading of the pesticide industry’s structure and its high-quality development. Enhance monitoring and early warning of pesticide production, sales, and usage, and issue regular reports on industry development. Guide enterprises to rationally plan production, phase out outdated capacity, encourage mergers and reorganizations, and prevent blind expansion and overproduction, thereby fostering an optimized industry structure, rational spatial distribution, improved product quality, and a balanced supply‑demand relationship. Urge and guide enterprises to refine their safety management systems, fulfill their principal responsibility for safe production and operations, and prevent major safety accidents involving pesticides.

9. Steadily advance the phase-out of highly toxic and outdated pesticides. Develop relevant policies and measures for phasing out highly toxic pesticides, convene experts to conduct feasibility studies on the 10 highly toxic pesticides slated for elimination, and prepare comprehensive assessment reports for each substance. Based on law and science, establish a timetable for their phase-out along with supporting policy measures, ensuring a well‑organized and gradual reduction in the use of these pesticides. Conduct pesticide risk monitoring, formulate risk‑assessment plans for pesticide products registered for more than 15 years, and strive to complete risk‑analysis reports for 10 pesticides—including carbendazim and fipronil—by 2019. Gradually optimize the pesticide product portfolio to enhance the safety of agricultural products, protect the ecological environment, and safeguard human and animal health.

10. Strengthen quality supervision and random inspections. In accordance with the “double-random, one-public” requirements, adopt a combined approach of routine random inspections, special inspections, and targeted inspections to conduct random checks on pesticide products sold in the market; carry out special inspections on pesticides used in fruit, vegetable, and tea production; and focus inspections on products from companies listed on the “blacklist.” Conduct sampling and testing to determine the content of active ingredients and detect any concealed addition of other pesticide components. In particular, closely monitor and inspect cases of biological pesticides containing chemical pesticides, low‑toxicity pesticides containing highly toxic or high‑risk pesticides, and the illegal addition of paraquat to non‑selective herbicides such as diquat.

11. Strengthen market supervision and inspection. Implement targeted inspection campaigns, conducting checks across the production, distribution, and application stages of pesticides. Key areas of scrutiny include whether all required permits are in place, whether relevant records and ledgers are complete and well-maintained, whether label QR codes are properly marked, whether prohibited or restricted-use pesticides are being produced, marketed, or used in violation of regulations, and whether pesticides intended for export are being sold domestically. These measures aim to ensure that pesticides are produced in compliance with the law, marketed in a standardized manner, and used scientifically.

12. Strictly investigate and prosecute violations. Strengthen measures for “inspection‑enforcement coordination and administrative‑criminal linkage,” and, in accordance with the law, rigorously address illegal production and operation of counterfeit or substandard pesticides, illicit pesticide manufacturing and sales operations, pesticide-related cases reported by the public, and online sales of unauthorized pesticides. Cases suspected of criminal offenses shall be promptly referred to the judicial authorities for prosecution, ensuring resolute crackdowns on unlawful practices in the production, marketing, and use of pesticides. Establish a pesticide integrity system, adhere to a dual approach of combating counterfeits while supporting high‑quality products, link enforcement and regulatory outcomes to pesticide registration, production and business licensing, and policy support measures, and refine long‑term regulatory mechanisms.

IV. Implementing New Requirements for Innovative Development and Promoting the Sustainable Development of the Pesticide Industry

13. Strengthen scientific and technological support for the pesticide industry. In response to new requirements for the sector’s development, secure research funding through multiple channels, build robust teams dedicated to fundamental and cutting-edge scientific and technological innovation in pesticides, and encourage enterprises to actively engage in technological R&D and collaborative problem-solving. Strive for breakthroughs in the discovery of new pesticides, the development of novel formulations, and the optimization of production processes, thereby continuously enhancing the industry’s capacity for innovation and market competitiveness. Organize and conduct technical research and integrated innovation addressing critical gaps—such as pesticide residues, human health and environmental safety, and the safe and rational use of pesticides—to provide solid support for pesticide management.

14. Accelerate the development of the standards system. In response to gaps in pesticide product quality and residue standards, relevant experts have been mobilized to expedite the drafting of standard proposals, with the aim of completing, during 2019–2020, the general standards for gas chromatography and liquid chromatography analytical methods used in pesticide testing, and formulating 1,000 maximum residue limit (MRL) standards for pesticides.

15. Strengthen capacity building for pesticide regulation. Leveraging plant protection projects, continue to advance the development of pesticide risk‑monitoring capabilities in key regions by establishing a number of provincial sub‑centers and county‑level monitoring sites, and equipping them with appropriate testing and analytical equipment. Establish a pesticide information monitoring and early‑warning system, designating representative production enterprises, retail outlets, and user entities as priority monitoring sites to promptly track trends in pesticide production, sales, and application, and conduct risk‑based monitoring and early warning. Accelerate the digitalization of pesticide management by developing a ministerial‑level digital regulatory platform and local pesticide information platforms, and by fully integrating functions such as administrative licensing, supervisory enforcement, quality traceability, risk monitoring and early warning, and data reporting. Promote the widespread adoption of China’s digital regulatory platform to progressively achieve interconnectedness and seamless information sharing across the pesticide sector.

16. Actively promote international cooperation and exchanges. Coordinate efforts to ensure compliance with pesticide-related conventions such as those of Stockholm, Rotterdam, and Basel; organize the successful convening of the 51st session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR); strengthen cooperation and dialogue on pesticide management with relevant international organizations and countries along the Belt and Road; and explore the establishment of multilateral and bilateral mechanisms for collaboration and exchange. Furthermore, advance mutual recognition of pesticide registration test data to facilitate the import and export of pesticides.

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