Strictly control the flow of pesticides; starting in 2018, pesticide sales must be fully reported electronically, and pesticide use trends should be reviewed.

Pesticide use problems keep emerging endlessly. To more effectively control pesticide distribution and misuse, the Council of Agriculture has rolled out a policy: starting January 1 next year, pesticide retailers must regularly report production and sales data electronically. Those who fail to report regularly may be fined up to NT$150,000. Feng Haidong, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said that in the past, pesticide businesses were in fact already required to report regularly, but because paper registration was used in the past, verification was difficult. "Now that electronic reporting is required, whether a report has been made can be seen at a glance, making verification more convenient."

Starting January 1, 2018, pesticide sales must be fully electronic

Under the Pesticide Management Act, pesticide businesses that fail to report regularly may be fined NT$15,000 to NT$150,000. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine emphasized that, starting January 1 next year, all regular reporting must be done electronically. To strengthen control and effectively reduce illegal pesticide use, when reviewing applications to extend manager certificates, it will also check whether retail stores have completed their reporting. At present, local governments including Taichung City, Changhua County, Pingtung County and Miaoli County have successively issued fines.

According to statistics, this year only 50 percent of pesticide retailers reported each quarter. Feng Haidong explained that in the past, considering that it was inconvenient for operators to use the internet, paper reporting was allowed, but this could only rely on manual stocktaking and could not be effectively verified. Therefore, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine used the long-established "Pesticide Sales Management Information" website to communicate with operators and local governments, and held multiple briefing sessions around the country this year to explain how to operate electronic reporting. Operators can use the website system to upload account books and production and sales data as formatted electronic files.

In addition, pesticide retailers can also use the "Simplified Version Pesticide Sales Management Information System (POS system)." Feng Haidong said that when this system is used to issue sales certificates, the data will be automatically uploaded to the system, so operators do not need to worry about forgetting to report production and sales data.

Can electronic data solve herbicide misuse? Feng Haidong: abnormal usage can be reviewed

Asked how the data after full electronic registration of pesticides should be used, Feng Haidong responded that data reported electronically will all be compiled into the back-end database. Statistics will be available for all pesticide sales points, product types and quantities, and the data can be used to review overall pesticide use trends.

Can electronic pesticide sales solve the past phenomenon of herbicide misuse? Feng Haidong said, "Herbicide misuse is something everyone suspects, but it cannot be seen just by looking at purchase and sale registrations." Feng explained that electronic data in fact is not specific to individual pesticides, but it can indeed be used to look at the sales situation of individual products. In the past, statistics were compiled once a year, and figures that took a very long time to compile were not so practical. Now, however, with the electronic method, reports are made once every two or three months, which can show pesticide use over the short term. If pesticide use is abnormally high, it can be traced to the specific time point and detailed location, which will be more helpful for pesticide control.