Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine draft notice: 18 high-risk chemical pesticides to be banned or restricted
To align with the "halve chemical pesticides in ten years" policy, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine announced on May 2 the phase-out schedule for 12 pesticides and the restricted use scope for 6 pesticides; Deputy Director-General Zou Huijuan said that in view of the latest domestic and international scientific evidence proving that these pesticides do pose food safety and environmental risks, the high-risk pesticide phase-out mechanism has been launched.
According to the newly announced draft "Prohibition of Twelve Pesticides Including Prothiofos as Banned Pesticides and Restrictions on the Methods and Scope of Use of Six Pesticides Including 25% Mephosfolan Emulsifiable Concentrate," high-risk pesticides such as "Dicofol," "Fenbutatin Oxide," "16.5% Aresin Emulsifiable Concentrate," "8% Calcium Methylarsonate Wettable Powder," "1% Ammonium Iron Methanearsonate Granules," "6.5% Ammonium Iron Methanearsonate Solution," "42.3% Arsenical Emulsifiable Concentrate," and "0.49% Cacodylic Acid Powder," "Iron Methanearsonate," "35.2% Sodium Methylarsonate Solution" and "45% Sodium Methylarsonate Solution," and "Prothiofos" will be phased out on different schedules, including July 1, 2018, August 1, 2018, and February 1, 2019.
"Dicofol" is a DDT derivative, and Taiwan, China is banning it ahead of the rest of the world
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said the ban on "Dicofol" and "Fenbutatin Oxide" follows the 2017 Stockholm Convention resolution; it noted that this agent has long-range transboundary atmospheric transport characteristics and is a persistent organic pollutant, and recommended that it be listed as a banned pesticide. To reduce the pollution this agent causes to the domestic environment, the bureau decided to adopt a ban.
In a recent interview, Bureau Director-General Feng Haidong explained that "Dicofol" is a DDT derivative and in principle will be listed in the annexes to the Stockholm Convention, with a global full ban in 2019; the reason Taiwan, China is banning it early on July 1, 2018 is that domestic use is not high, so it can be banned at any time.
As for arsenic-containing pesticides such as "16.5% Aresin Emulsifiable Concentrate," which are also included in the high-risk pesticide phase-out scope, the bureau said that although the main components of these pesticides are organic arsenic, "organic arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds can interconvert through biological metabolism in the natural environment." Considering that inorganic arsenic has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group 1 human carcinogen, the bureau resolved to announce a ban on these arsenic-containing pesticides.
Feng Haidong further explained that the last production and sales statistics for these arsenic-containing pesticides date back to 2002, "so there may not be many products still circulating on the market." Moreover, better drugs came out long ago; therefore, these worthless pesticides are being considered for phase-out, so as to avoid giving the public the mistaken impression that there are still so many unfriendly pesticide products domestically.
Due to food safety concerns, "Mephosfolan" is banned for use on rice
The ban on "Prothiofos" is due to consideration that the international Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) has been lowered; the bureau assessed that the dietary intake risk cannot be reduced by adjusting pesticide residue tolerance standards, and in practice the pesticide residue risk cannot be reduced by extending the safe harvest interval, so a ban was adopted.
As for pesticides such as "Mephosfolan" and its mixture "Mephosfolan-Terbufos," the bureau considered that after use they decompose into the already banned pesticide component "Damason," and experiments by the Council of Agriculture confirmed that when legally used to control pests on rice, "Mephosfolan" and "Mephosfolan-Terbufos" can indeed show excessive "Damason" residues from metabolic conversion; if they continue to be used on rice, there may be food safety concerns, so the bureau has now also announced that these pesticides must not be used on rice.
Is there a next wave of pesticides to be phased out? The bureau: not convenient to disclose
Zou Huijuan said the bureau will continue the high-risk pesticide phase-out work; at the current stage, 12 pesticides are newly banned and 6 pesticides have added restrictions on their scope of use; if new scientific evidence or international data corroboration emerges in the future, the bureau will again assess their impact on human health and the environment based on scientific evidence and further adopt ban or restriction measures, so that pesticides with risk concerns are gradually phased out.
But when asked whether the bureau already has a next wave list of pesticides that "may" be phased out, Zou Huijuan only said, "It is not convenient to disclose it publicly." Everything must still wait for scientific assessment to be completed before relevant measures can be gradually taken based on risk.
Feng Haidong also said he did not want to list commonly used but worrying pesticides, but the "restricted-use pesticides" in the existing pesticide information network are already a long list of "problematic drugs."
Although the restricted-use pesticide list is regarded as "problematic pesticides," Feng Haidong said that under the current management approach, most are used for a period of time and only after special circumstances are discovered are further special restrictions imposed; as for how management will tend in the future? Feng said efforts will be made to identify the logic of restricted use and determine the restricted scope of use at the time of pesticide registration.
In the future, high-risk pesticides will be controlled through "grading" and "contract spraying"
However, with the "halve chemical pesticides in ten years" policy imminent, how does the bureau plan to effectively control the use of high-risk pesticides? Feng Haidong said "grading" is an important strategy for halving pesticides in ten years; in the future, in addition to "contract spraying" as a strict pesticide-use control practice, further controls may also target transport and storage conditions, sales and use, and even advertising and marketing.
Zou Huijuan also stressed that the policies of halving chemical pesticides in ten years and phasing out high-risk pesticides will continue to be pursued, and appropriate measures will be taken based on the latest domestic and international scientific evidence; the bureau will also closely monitor subsequent developments regarding the herbicide "Glyphosate," whose retention or abolition is hotly debated internationally, and neonicotinoid insecticides such as "Imidacloprid," "Clothianidin," and "Thiamethoxam."