Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MoARA) issued Announcement No. 925, specifying further requirements for pesticide label and instruction manual annotations. Officials from MoARA's Department of Crop Management (Department of Pesticide Management) and the Department of Laws and Regulations addressed media inquiries to clarify the announcement's contents.

Q1: What is the rationale behind issuing Announcement No. 925?

Since the implementation of the Measures for the Management of Pesticide Labels and Instruction Manuals in 2017, these regulations have played a vital role in ensuring pesticide product quality and pesticide use safety. However, evolving agricultural practices, pesticide distribution models, and application technologies have introduced new challenges. 

Key issues include difficulties in tracing the technical material (or concentrate) used in pesticide products and the practice of marketing identical products under different trademarks. These practices undermine quality assurance, disrupt fair market competition, and jeopardize farmers' legitimate rights. To promote sustainable industry development, it is necessary to further standardize pesticide labeling based on practical realities.

Q2: How to interpret the requirement to annotate source information for technical material (concentrate) on formulated product labels?

Formulated pesticide products are processed from technical material (or concentrate). Mandating the annotation of technical material/concentrate source information on the formulated product label, with the registration certificate holder assuming responsibility for its accuracy, enhances product quality control. 

Per Announcement No. 925, this source information includes the registration certificate number and manufacturer name of the technical material/concentrate. For imported technical material/concentrate, the source information refers to the registration certificate number and holder information. This information may be printed directly on the label or embedded within a traceable electronic information code. If different batches of technical material/concentrate are used to process different batches of formulated products, the corresponding source information must be labeled separately.

Note: Formulated products are exempt from annotating technical material/concentrate information if the source material is exempt from registration due to technical or safety reasons, and the manufacturer holds a valid production license compliant with regulations.

Q3: Why must pesticides with identical registration certificate numbers bear the same trademark?

Following the discontinuation of commercial names for pesticides, trademarks effectively function as product identifiers for farmers. The practice of marketing products under the same registration certificate number with different trademarks misleads farmers into perceiving them as distinct products. This causes confusion in product selection, leads to repeated applications, disrupts market order, hinders industry development, complicates pesticide quality supervision, and poses risks to agricultural production and agricultural product quality safety. 

To align with national market integration policies, Announcement No. 925 mandates that all pesticides sharing a single registration certificate number must display the same trademark(s) nationwide. Specifically, while a single registered product may display one or multiple trademarks per Article 31 of the Measures, the trademark(s) used on the market for that specific registration number must be consistent.

MoARA will establish a dedicated module within the "Approved Label Query" section of the Pesticide Management Information Platform for registration certificate holders to accurately and promptly report trademark information and any changes.

Q4: Why can't products manufactured or packaged under contract bear the entrusted party's trademark?

Contract manufacturing/packaging involves the entrusted party acting on behalf of the entrusting party, who bears legal responsibility. Article 19 of the Pesticide Management Regulations states that the entrusting party must hold the relevant pesticide registration certificate and is accountable for the quality of contract-manufactured/repackaged pesticides. Article 47 prohibits the transfer, lease, or loan of pesticide registration certificates. Some entities disguise the leasing of pesticide registration certificates as contract manufacturing/repackaging by placing the entrusted party's trademark on the product label. This violates the legal principles of entrustment and misleads farmers. 

Announcement No. 925 explicitly forbids labeling contract-manufactured/repackaged products with the entrusted party's trademark to rectify market irregularities and protect farmers' rights to information and choice.

Q5: What are the special labeling requirements for pesticides used on herbicide-tolerant crops?

Current agricultural herbicide-tolerant crops fall into two categories: transgenic and non-transgenic. Pesticide labels for both types must comply with Announcement No. 925. 

Products for non-transgenic herbicide-tolerant crops should specify the crop variety. Products for transgenic herbicide-tolerant crops must specify the transformation event. Furthermore, labels for pesticides used on transgenic herbicide-tolerant crops must also adhere to the labeling content, safety precautions, and application techniques requirements stipulated in MoARA Announcement No. 542.

Q6: What information must be provided when a pesticide label specifies a mandatory adjuvant?

Certain pesticide products require the addition of specified adjuvants to ensure product safety and formulation stability. According to the Pesticide Registration Management Measures, such products must submit pesticide registration trial data, including the adjuvant during registration. To align with registration requirements, the pesticide label must annotate the specified adjuvant's name and main components.

Q7: How will pesticide products with labels non-compliant with Announcement No. 925 be handled?

Articles 22 and 23 of the Pesticide Management Regulations mandate that pesticide labels and instruction manuals comply with MoARA regulations and prohibit false or misleading content. Articles 53 and 57 stipulate that producing, procuring, or selling pesticides with non-compliant packaging, labels, or manuals will result in corrective orders, confiscation of illegal gains and products, and fines imposed by county-level or higher agricultural authorities. Persistent non-compliance or severe violations may lead to the revocation of the pesticide production license, pesticide business license, and relevant pesticide registration certificate by the issuing authority. Post-implementation of this announcement, non-compliant labels/manuals will be penalized under these regulations.

Note: Pesticide products manufactured before January 1, 2026, with labels/manuals inconsistent with this announcement may be sold until the end of their shelf-life (validity period).