“The General Analytical Method for Determining the Content of Active Ingredients in Pesticide Products” will come into effect on October 1, 2022.

Release Date:

2022-09-27

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued Announcement No. 576, approving 135 agricultural industry standards, including “General Analytical Method for Determining the Content of Active Ingredients in Pesticide Products—High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (NY/T 4119-2022)” (hereinafter referred to as the “General HPLC Analytical Method”), which will take effect on October 1, 2022. The “General HPLC Analytical Method” is one of a series of general analytical methods for determining the content of active ingredients in pesticide products, and this series of standards features the following characteristics:

First, the approach to standard-setting is innovative. The series of general analytical method standards for determining the content of active ingredients in pesticide products breaks with the previous practice of tailoring pesticide quality standards to specific products. For the first time, these standards are classified by analytical method, and for each pesticide variety, multiple formulation types are selected to validate the applicability of the methods. This has resulted in five series of general analytical method standards: high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, chemical titration, ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry, and bioassay methods (for bacteria, fungi, and viruses).

Second, the scope of covered compounds is extensive. The series of standard methods for determining the content of active ingredients in pesticide products comprises analytical procedures for a total of 626 pesticide varieties: 462 are analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, 224 by gas chromatography, 84 can be analyzed by either method, 14 by chemical titration, and 10 by UV–visible spectrophotometry. In addition, bioassay methods for three categories of microbial pesticides—bacteria, fungi, and viruses—further ensure nearly complete coverage of all currently available pesticide formulations.

Third, the standards have broad applicability. The series of general analytical methods for determining the content of active ingredients in pesticide products constitutes an integrated set of standards for pesticide‑active‑ingredient analysis. Once implemented, pesticide testing and inspection bodies may, in accordance with the legally prescribed procedures for accreditation, apply to expand their scope of testing to include these methods, thereby legalizing the analysis of all registered pesticide active ingredients, banned pesticides, and hidden additives. This effectively addresses the enforcement challenges arising from insufficient regulatory testing standards for pesticide products. Meanwhile, pesticide manufacturers may voluntarily adopt the corresponding analytical methods for specific pesticide varieties outlined in these general standards; following suitability verification, they can use these methods as the official means for determining the active‑ingredient content of their own products, significantly reducing the extensive experimental work required for method development and validation.

The project to establish a system of general analytical methods for determining the active‑ingredient content in pesticide products was launched at the end of 2019, with a four‑year plan to develop five series of standards, including a general liquid chromatography method. At present, the standard for the general liquid chromatography method is about to be implemented, and the standard for the general gas chromatography method has completed the approval process. Work on developing general analytical standards—such as chemical titration, UV–visible spectrophotometry, and bioassay—is also progressing in an orderly manner. Once all five series of these general analytical method standards have been published and put into effect, the shortage of analytical methods for individual pesticide varieties will be fundamentally alleviated, providing an additional powerful tool for market supervision and testing of pesticide products.

Source: Pesticide Inspection Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

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