Highly toxic pesticides given a death sentence, must exit the market after a 5-year reprieve
Original headline: Highly toxic pesticides: "Death sentence handed down, execution suspended"
Recently, the Department of Crop Production Management of the Ministry of Agriculture disclosed to the public that China already has a timetable for the full withdrawal of highly toxic pesticides from the market:
Phase out methyl bromide and endosulfan before 2019. According to relevant international conventions, the use of methyl bromide for soil fumigation is permitted until December 31, 2018; endosulfan used to control cotton bollworm in cotton and tobacco budworm in tobacco and other special uses is exempt until March 26, 2019; a notice is planned to be issued before the end of 2016, and starting from January 1, 2017, the registration of methyl bromide and endosulfan pesticides will be revoked; starting from January 1, 2019, the use of methyl bromide and endosulfan in agricultural production will be prohibited.
Prohibit the use of aldicarb, carbofuran, phorate, methyl isothiophos, omethoate and isocarbophos in 2020. Based on the results of pesticide use risk monitoring and assessment, it is planned to revoke the registration of the above 6 highly toxic pesticides in 2018 and prohibit their use in 2020.
By the end of 2020, apart from highly toxic pesticide varieties that must be retained for agricultural production and other purposes, other highly toxic pesticides will be phased out and banned.
During the phase-out process, continue to advance the pilot program for designated sales of highly toxic pesticides, implement electronic information barcode labeling for all pesticide products to facilitate monitoring, traceability and tracking. At the same time, revise the "Pesticide Management Regulations" as soon as possible, improve pesticide registration approval management, and carry out pesticide registration for minor crops.
After decades of development, China's pesticide industry has grown into a major pesticide producer and exporter in the world, but compared with developed countries, there is still a considerable gap: first, some highly toxic pesticides are still being produced and used; second, the proportion of old varieties is too large. Therefore, the supervision of highly toxic pesticides has always been a key focus of China's pesticide management. Since the early 1980s, China has successively phased out 33 types of highly toxic and extremely toxic pesticides, including BHC, DDT and methamidophos, and currently 22 types of extremely toxic and highly toxic pesticides (classified by technical material toxicity) are registered for use. In accordance with the explicit requirements of the "Food Safety Law" that took effect on October 1, the Ministry of Agriculture has formulated a preliminary work plan, intending to accelerate the phase-out of extremely toxic, highly toxic and high-residue pesticides in a scientific, orderly and phased manner on the basis of full demonstration. (According to "Agricultural Materials Herald")