Guangdong Agricultural Materials Supervision 2.0: Pesticides Suited Only to Out-of-Province Crops Banned from Sale

Original title: Guangdong Builds an "Upgraded Version" of Agricultural Materials Supervision

On December 28, the Information Office of Guangdong Province held a press conference in Guangzhou on the "Opinions on Further Strengthening Agricultural Materials Supervision Work" (Yue Fu Han [2015] No. 327) (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), publicly announcing the background, significance, main contents and highlights of the Opinions. Cai Shugan, member of the Party Leadership Group of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Chief Veterinary Officer, and relevant experts answered questions of media concern and public interest on site. (File photo source: Guangdong Agricultural Information Network)

Guangdong Province recently issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening Agricultural Materials Supervision Work", setting out comprehensive, systematic and full-chain regulatory requirements for agricultural materials supervision across the province. As the "upgraded version" of Guangdong's agricultural materials supervision under the new situation, the Opinions for the first time explicitly establishes an accountability and compensation system for agricultural materials whereby "whoever produces is responsible, whoever sells is responsible, and whoever uses is responsible".

According to the requirements of the Opinions, Guangdong will implement designated-point sales for highly toxic and restricted-use pesticides, and roll out a ban on the sale of "out-of-province-only" pesticides, that is, pesticides for which there are no applicable crops in the province may not be sold. In other words, pesticides applicable only to crops such as cotton and apples may no longer be sold in Guangdong in the future.

An official from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture introduced that in 2015, agricultural departments at all levels across the province dispatched a total of 206,500 person-times of administrative law enforcement personnel, inspected 62,600 production units-times, conducted sampling inspections of 2,700 batches of agricultural materials, and filed and investigated 1,035 illegal cases, with no major incidents involving the quality and safety of agricultural materials or agricultural products occurring in the province throughout the year. (Reporter Fu Wei)