For the pesticide industry, the year of 2014 offered both opportunities and challenges. In 2014, the environment protection scrutiny eliminated a number of enterprises of outdated capacities; in 2014, the government increasingly strengthened the supervision and management of high-toxic pesticides; and in 2014, relevant rules and regulations were improved. Specific policies and regulations are listed as below:
1. On December 9, 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture issued Notice 2032 which specified further management measures on prohibition and limitation on the following seven pesticides: chlorsulfuron, ethametsulfuron-methyl, metsulfuron-methyl, asomate, urbacid, Dursban and triazophos. The Notice made an explicit timetable for the withdrawal of the registration, the sales and the application of the seven aforementioned pesticides.
2. The application of bromomethane has been completely prohibited in agriculture since January 1, 2015.
3. ICAMA required that since January 1, 2014 information for registered products of proposed approval should be publicized. The publicity shall last seven days. The publicized contents shall include names of the enterprises of temporary registration, formal registration and sub-packaging registration for products which are planned to be approved, product names, active ingredients and content, formulation forms, toxicity, crops for application, objects of prevention and treatment, dosage, application methods, TC sources, notes, etc.
4. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) implemented fixed-point operation and demonstration projects for high-toxic pesticides in Hebei province and four other provinces. MOA invested five million yuan specially in establishing a platform for sharing the pesticide tracing system, promoting information code sourcing management for fixed-point operation shops, establishing model shops of fixed-point operation, etc.
5. According to Notice 52 issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the new standard on limited quantity of harmful solvents in pesticide EC would be implemented on March 1, 2014. The pesticide industry standards involved in the Notice also include: benthiocarb TC, benthiocarb EC, meperfluthrin TC, etc.
6. On March 3, 2014, the State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine made revisions to the specific requirements for implementation details of the industrial production licenses for pesticides and other relevant products. Thirty-five kinds of pesticide products were included in the guidance directory of industrial structure adjustments, fourteen new kinds of product standards, relevant standards as well as inspection items were added, and specifications of standard revisions for five pesticide products were changed.
7. The Ministry of Agriculture and the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China jointly issued the "National Food Safety Standard - Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Food" (GB2763-2014) on March 20, 2014. The new standard stipulates 3,650 limiting indexes of 387 kinds of pesticides in 284 kinds (varieties) of food. The standard took effect on August 1, 2014.
8. On March 25, 2014, twelve ministries and departments including the Ministry of Environmental Protection jointly issued an announcement. According to the announcement, from March 26, 2014, production, distribution, application, and export and import of endosulfan would be prohibited except for specific exemptions such as production and application for the control of cotton bollworm and oriental tobacco budworm.
9. Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection published "Directory of Key Hazardous Chemicals for Environment" on April 3, 2014. The "Directory" listed a total of 84 kinds of hazardous chemicals, including paraquat, malathion, thiram, ziram, alachlor, acetochlor, endosulfan, cypermethrin, triphenyltin hydroxide and other pesticides.
10. The revised "Environmental Protection Law" was passed on April 24, 2014 and would be implemented from January 1, 2015.
11. "Plan to Reduce Highly Hazardous Pollutants" compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance was released on April 28, 2014. The Plan listed the main objectives of the activity and proposed alternatives for a number of highly toxic pesticide varieties.
12. On May 17, 2014, Chinas only dicofol production line in Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical Group was officially closed, marking an overall halt of production of dicofol in China.
13. According to Notice 1745 jointly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, from July 1, 2014 registration and production license for paraquat AS would be revoked, production would be prohibited, registration of paraquat mother liquid manufacturers would be retained and production were only allowed for export. Sale and application of paraquat AS will be prohibited from July 1, 2016 in China.
14. On July 3, 2014 the Ministry of Environmental Protection released the "List of Manufacturers (First Round) Which Passed Environmental Protection Scrutiny on Glyphosate (PMIDA)'. The manufacturers include Zhenjiang Jiangnan Chemicals Co., Ltd., Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Youth Chemical Co., Ltd., and Hubei Taisheng Chemical Co., Ltd.
15. According to the list of proposed pesticide production licenses by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on August 5, 2014, Nanjing RedSun Biochemistry Co., Ltd.'s paraquat 20% soluble gel was approved.
16. According to Notice 2148 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture on August 29, 2014, 190 enterprises were approved as experiment units of pesticide registrations.
17. The revised draft "Advertisement Law' was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress for review. The revised draft regulated that advertisements regarding to pesticides and other products shall not contain absolute assertions of safety nor shall they contain unscientific assertions or guarantees for effect.
18. On October 10, 2014, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration of the PRC approved 21 serial national standards under "Environmental Safety Evaluation Test Guidelines of Chemical Pesticide'. These 21 standards will be put into effect on March 11, 2015.