Pesticide Management: Council of Agriculture Promotes Real-Name Pesticide Purchasing, with Fully Transparent Real-Time Reporting of Pesticide Flows

Buying masks requires real-name registration, and so does buying pesticides! The Council of Agriculture has announced that starting in July this year, pesticide retailers must log the purchaser's ID card information and file daily reports through a computer system, sparking heated debate both for and against in agricultural circles. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine stresses that the real-name system helps manage pesticide flows, strengthens food safety, and can even help farmers use pesticides precisely to control pests and diseases; however, some pesticide retailers are pushing back, arguing that front-line implementation is difficult and that the measure may be unconstitutional.

Although the law already required pesticide sellers to register the purchaser's name in the past, there were still cases where registration was not actually carried out, meaning pesticide management could only be done halfway and competent authorities found it hard to track pesticide flows. With the switch to cross-checking by ID number, where pesticides are bought and sold and which crops they are used on will no longer be able to hide.

New Rules for Real-Name Pesticide Purchasing: ID Number, Crop, and Pest or Disease Name Must Be Logged

The real-name pesticide purchasing rule actually dates back to ROC year 105, when farmers occasionally said their illegal pesticide use was due to recommendations by pesticide retailers, but