Which pesticides are banned for use on vegetables, and will these companies have their registration certificates revoked?

Pesticides are related to major issues such as the quality of agricultural products, the safety of humans and livestock, and the protection of the ecological environment, and their production, sales and other activities are all subject to the "Regulations on Pesticide Administration." Since August 1, 2019, 3 pesticides have been banned, and companies that have not obtained a pesticide production license will face the risk of having their pesticide registration certificates revoked.

Starting August 1, these 3 pesticides will be banned

According to Announcement No. 2552 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, starting August 1, 2019, acephate, carbosulfan, and dimethoate are prohibited from use on vegetables, melons and fruits, tea, fungi, and Chinese herbal medicine crops.

The main reason these three pesticides are banned is that during the storage of their formulations they may degrade and produce the highly toxic pesticides methamidophos, carbofuran, and omethoate, posing a relatively large quality and safety hazard.

Acephate: As an oral insecticide, it is generally used to control various chewing and piercing-sucking mouthpart pests, pest mites, and sanitary pests. It was once one of the substitute products for the highly toxic pesticide methamidophos after it was withdrawn from the market and played a certain role. However, during use, the degradation and metabolism issues of acephate are not optimistic, and at the same time, improper storage and use can cause poisoning in humans and livestock.

Dimethoate: It is a systemic organophosphorus insecticide and acaricide. It is mainly used on field crops (wheat, rice, etc.) and is suitable for controlling piercing-sucking mouthpart pests on many crops, such as aphids, leafhoppers, whiteflies, leaf-mining pests, and certain scale insects. It has good control effects and also has a certain control effect on mites. However, after degradation, dimethoate generates omethoate, which is banned or restricted.

On June 26, 2019, the European Union issued official notice (EU)2019/1090, deciding no longer to approve the renewal application for dimethoate, and the notice officially took effect on June 29, 2019.

Carbosulfan: It is a moderately toxic insecticide and acaricide. It was also one of the substitute products for the highly toxic pesticide carbofuran. Carbosulfan was banned mainly because of residue problems. When used on vegetables, it easily decomposes into carbofuran and 3-hydroxycarbofuran.

Carbosulfan is mainly used to control citrus rust mites, aphids, leafminers, scale insects, and so on. After it is banned, lufenuron may take over the banner of carbosulfan in controlling rust mites, and its control effect will be even better.

As can be seen from the table above, among the several agents for controlling citrus rust mites, most basically use contact and stomach poison modes of action and can kill larvae and adults, but only lufenuron can kill eggs, and it can play a key role in the field of prevention, with longer persistence, which is the advantage of lufenuron.

These types of companies will have their pesticide registration certificates revoked!

Article 63 of the "Regulations on Pesticide Administration" clearly stipulates: those who produce pesticides without obtaining a pesticide production license, operate pesticides without obtaining a pesticide business license, or have had their pesticide registration certificate, pesticide production license, or pesticide business license revoked, shall have the directly responsible persons in charge prohibited from engaging in pesticide production or business activities for 10 years.

Case

Recently, the Agricultural Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade of Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province reported that the city uncovered a case of operating pesticides without a license.

Based on a report, the Dongyang City Agricultural Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade went to a certain agricultural supply store in Qianxiang to inspect unlicensed pesticide operations and seized 26 types of pesticides totaling more than 600 bottles (packs) from a pickup truck parked at the entrance of the agricultural supply store.

The store had already been fined 20,000 yuan in November 2018 for operating pesticides without a license, and the person in charge was ordered not to operate pesticides for 10 years. This investigation and handling constituted a repeat offense.

During the inspection, because the person in charge refused to admit it and did not cooperate with the law enforcement inspection, the law enforcement brigade made a record of sealing and seizing the scene in accordance with the law, and sealed and seized the pickup truck and pesticides involved in the case.

At the beginning of the year, the city's agricultural law enforcement brigade carried out a special campaign against unlicensed pesticide operations in the pesticide market and conducted irregular inspections of agricultural supply operating units throughout the city that had not obtained pesticide business licenses, requiring those with problems to rectify immediately and filing cases against those who refused to rectify. As of late January, a total of 3 agricultural supply stores had been filed for the illegal act of operating pesticides without a license, and all have now been concluded, with the 3 agricultural supply stores fined and confiscated a total of 31,036 yuan. Among them, the persons in charge of two operating stores will not be allowed to engage in pesticide business activities for 10 years.

After August 1, companies that have not obtained a pesticide production license will face the risk of having their pesticide registration certificates revoked!

The "Measures for the Administration of Pesticide Production Licenses" stipulates that those that had already obtained a pesticide registration certificate before the implementation of these Measures but had not obtained a pesticide production approval certificate or pesticide production license and need to continue producing pesticides shall obtain a pesticide production license within two years from the date of implementation of these Measures.

The "Measures for the Administration of Pesticide Production Licenses" were officially implemented on August 1, 2017, and two years later, that is, August 1, 2019.

For companies that have still not obtained a pesticide production license after the deadline, is the worst result merely being unable to produce pesticides? For companies that illegally produce pesticides, is it merely that the company's responsible person may not engage in pesticide production, business, and other work for 10 years?

According to relevant interpretations, those who fail to obtain a pesticide production license after the deadline may also face the risk of having their pesticide registration certificate canceled, and their company may not apply for pesticide registration within 5 years.

For companies or units that produce pesticides without obtaining a pesticide production license or produce fake pesticides, according to Article 52 of the "Regulations on Pesticide Administration" (revised in 2017), the competent agricultural department of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order them to stop production, confiscate the illegal gains, the illegally produced products, and the tools, equipment, raw materials, and so on used for illegal production. If the value of the illegally produced products is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan and not more than 100,000 yuan shall also be imposed; if the value is 10,000 yuan or more, a fine of not less than 10 times and not more than 20 times the value shall also be imposed, and the issuing authority shall revoke the pesticide production license and the corresponding pesticide registration certificate; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

At the same time, for pesticide production enterprises that have obtained a pesticide production license but no longer meet the prescribed conditions and continue to produce pesticides, the competent agricultural department of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order them to rectify within a time limit; if they refuse to rectify after the deadline or still do not meet the prescribed conditions after rectification, the issuing authority shall revoke the pesticide production license.

For companies whose pesticide registration certificate or pesticide production license has been revoked, the directly responsible persons in charge may not engage in pesticide production or business activities for 10 years. If other pesticide companies hire these personnel to engage in pesticide production or business activities, they will also have their pesticide production license and pesticide business license revoked. In addition, for companies whose pesticide registration certificate has been revoked, the competent agricultural department will no longer accept their pesticide registration applications within 5 years.

In other words, companies that have still not obtained a pesticide production license by August 1, 2019, if they continue to produce pesticides, will not only face the risk of having their pesticide registration certificate revoked, but also may not apply for pesticide registration within 5 years.

Then, as of August 1, 2019, if a company has not obtained a pesticide production license issued by the competent agricultural department, does that mean it definitely cannot engage in pesticide production work?

Actually, not necessarily. According to the "Measures for the Administration of Pesticide Production Licenses," if a company already has a pesticide production license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it will be recognized during the validity period, and it only needs to handle it before expiration. However, for companies that previously only had a pesticide registration certificate and no production license, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology does not recognize them as pesticide production enterprises. Therefore, these companies are required to obtain a pesticide production license before August 1, 2019; otherwise, their registration certificates will be canceled.