China’s Draft Fertilizer Naming Rules: What Manufacturers and Importers Should Check

Current Rules for Chinese Fertilizer Names

MIIT proposed Chinese Name for Fertilizers — General Requirements (national standard plan 20256769-Q-339). The National Technical Committee on Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners (SAC/TC 105) organised the drafting. More than 20 organisations contributed, including Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., the China Phosphate and Compound Fertilizer Industry Association, the National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Centre, and Sinochem Fertilizer Co., Ltd.

China already has standards for most commercially produced fertilizer types. The draft would provide a common set of naming rules across these products. A mandatory national standard (GB) becomes binding once issued and in force. GB/T denotes a recommended national standard.

• Article 27 of the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China requires the marking on a product or its packaging to be truthful and to include a product name stated in Chinese.

• Article 19 of the Measures for the Administration of Fertilizer Registration provides that fertilizer trade names must be named in a standard way and must not be misleading.

• Clause 7.1.3 of the mandatory national standard GB 18382—2021, Fertilizer marking—Presentation and declaration, already prohibits words including 高效 (high-efficiency), 特效 (special-effect), 全营养 (complete nutrition), 保绿 (stay-green), 保花 (flower-retaining), 保果 (fruit-retaining), 王 (king), 神 (divine), 灵 (efficacious), 宝 (treasure) and 圣 (sacred).

The drafting group cites misleading names such as 量子肥 ("quantum fertilizer") and 纳米碳能 ("nano-carbon energy"). It links misleading names to poor purchasing decisions and reduced crop yields. The draft would supplement existing labelling rules with naming principles and a list of prohibited terms.

Six Proposed Fertilizer Naming Requirements

1. Distinguish the common name from the trade name

The draft uses Chinese fertilizer name (肥料中文名称) as an umbrella term covering two names that serve different purposes on a label:

• Common name (通用名称), also called the standard name (标准名称), is the product's primary legal name. It is determined by the applicable standard or naming rules. Under the draft, each product would have one common name.

• Trade name (商品名称) is an optional commercial name that a producer or seller may use to distinguish its product. Where used, it would appear alongside the common name in the format described below.

The draft also defines a misleading name (误导性名称) as one that could give buyers a false impression of a fertilizer's composition, effects or safety. Examples include names that invent ingredients, exaggerate effects or use similar-looking or similar-sounding Chinese characters.

2. Apply four naming principles

Chapter 4 sets out scientific basis, accuracy, traceability and uniqueness. The last two would introduce new principles.

• Traceability (可追溯性). the Chinese name of a fertilizer must be consistent with the fertilizer registration certificate, the production licence and similar information.

• Uniqueness (唯一性). each product must bear one common name, and only one — "one product, one common name".

The uniqueness rule is intended to prevent companies from registering or selling the same product under several names.

3. Determine the common name

• Products made to a national standard or an industry standard are marked with the common name prescribed in that standard.

• Products made to a local standard, an association standard or an enterprise standard — or made to an international or foreign standard and sold in China — are named under the rules in Chapter 6 of this document. Clause 5.1.2 adds a further limit: if the relevant technical requirements of the standard they are made to are lower than those of the corresponding recommended national standard or industry standard, the same name as prescribed in the national or industry standard shall not be used.

• Products requiring fertilizer registration are marked with the valid registered name already obtained.

• Where none of the above applies, the corresponding name is first sought in GB/T 6274 (terminology) and GB/T 32741 (classification). If no such name exists, the product is named by the line classification method set out in GB/T 7027 — that is, a method of successive division into four levels: major class, medium class, small class and sub-class — and the "smallest category" name in Table A.1 of Annex A is to be preferred; a name at a higher, broader category must not be substituted.

Naming fertilizers that contain additives

For fertilizers containing additives, the draft gives the following Chinese naming format:

含XX（添加物）XX（标准名称或表A.1名称）

Read the formula from left to right: 含 means "containing." The first XX stands for the additive name. The second stands for the fertilizer name prescribed by the applicable standard or listed in Table A.1 of Annex A.

If a product contains several additives, the draft calls for naming the one or two present at the highest levels or responsible for the main function. For an additive not listed in Annex B, the producer would need a third-party test report or a field-trial validation report.

4. Check how the trade name appears

Under the draft, a trade name would be optional. If used, it would have to appear below the common name, in smaller type, enclosed in parentheses and in text form. Graphics could not serve as the trade name.

However, a fertilizer product that has obtained registration must be marked with the name approved in the valid registration (GB 18382—2021, clause 7.1.2); Article 21 of the Measures for the Administration of Fertilizer Registration lists the trade name, alongside the scope of use and the enterprise name, as an item requiring an application for change registration.

The proposed restrictions on wording apply to 肥料中文名称 (the Chinese fertilizer name), which includes both common and trade names. They would therefore also apply to a product labelled only with its common name.

5. Screen Chinese fertilizer names for prohibited wording

Clause 5.3 of the draft identifies four categories of wording it would prohibit. When reviewing packaging, check the Chinese common name and, if used, the Chinese trade name.

• Exaggerated or absolute claims. Check for superlatives and promises of performance, such as 最佳 ("best") or 翻倍增产 ("double the yield").

• Pseudoscientific or unverified concepts. The draft lists terms such as 量子 ("quantum") and 石墨烯 ("graphene") in this category.

• False or unverified environmental, safety or origin claims. Examples include 零残留 ("zero residue") and 进口原料 ("imported raw materials").

• Non-standard terminology or misleading functional claims. Check both spelling and meaning. For example, the draft lists 脲素 as a non-standard spelling of 尿素 ("urea"). It also lists 防病 ("prevents disease") as a functional claim.

Chinese label checklist: terms listed in the draft

Use the Chinese wording to check packaging artwork. The English glosses explain the meaning of each entry. The lists may change before the standard is issued.

The draft also addresses material on the same line as the Chinese name, including text, graphics and the background. It calls for standardised Chinese characters and consistent font size and extends the prohibited-word rules to that line. For products containing a microbial agent, strain names in the product name would have to match the registration list of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).

6. Display the Chinese name prominently

The draft calls for the Chinese name to appear prominently on the packaging. GB 18382 supplies the other marking requirements, including format, font size and position.

How the Draft Compares with GB 18382—2021

Packaging, registration and imported fertilizers

• Packaging and labels. products whose names fall within the prohibited words, or which fail the uniqueness requirement, would need to change their packaging. The drafting group estimates the re-design cost (including design, printing and inventory loss, plus compliance review, supply-chain adjustment and staff training) at about 0.5%–1.2% of the average annual profit of small and medium-sized enterprises.

• Registration. the name must be consistent with the registration certificate. To change the trade name of a registered product, an application for change registration must be made to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the new name must not mislead or confuse.

• New products. Where applicable, the classification method and Annexes A and B would add time and documentation to the naming process.

• Imported products. products made to international or foreign standards and sold in China would fall under the naming rules of this document; if the relevant technical requirements of the standard they are made to are lower than those of the corresponding recommended national standard or industry standard, the same name as prescribed in that standard could not be used.

Scope and exemption

The draft covers fertilizers produced or sold in China, including imported fertilizers sold there and imported products repackaged there. The exemption would apply only to special-purpose fertilizer made under contract for an end user that is neither circulated on the market in any form nor offered for public sale.

Benefits estimated by the drafting group

The drafting group estimates that standardised naming could help farmers avoid more than RMB 3 billion in annual losses. For nitrogen fertilizer alone, it projects 2 million tonnes less waste per year and a reduction of more than 20% in agricultural non-point source pollution. These projections come from the drafting note.

Checklist for Manufacturers and Importers

• Name self-check. check existing product names (common and trade) one by one against the four categories in clause 5.3, paying particular attention to high-frequency words such as 进口原料 "imported raw materials", 高效 "high-efficiency", 特效 "special-effect", 王 "king", 神 "divine", 第一 "No. 1" and 100%.

• Format check. verify the position, font size, parentheses and text form of the trade name, and confirm that no graphics are used.

• Registration data check. verify that product names match the fertilizer registration certificate, giving effect to the traceability requirement; where a trade name is to be changed, assess the time and documentation cost of change registration at the same time.

• Specific check for microbial products. for products containing a microbial agent, verify that strain names match the registration list of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

• Establish a naming pre-review process. make looking up the "smallest category" name in Table A.1 of Annex A, and looking up additive names in Annex B, mandatory steps in naming a new product; where an additive not listed in Annex B is used, prepare a third-party test report or a field-trial validation report in advance.

• Build re-packaging into planning. work back from the proposed 12-month transition period to a timetable for re-design, inventory disposal and staff training.

Consultation Status and Next Steps

• 19 October 2026. Public consultation closed.

• Review and submission. The drafting group will consider comments, revise the text and drafting note, and prepare the standard for submission after review.

• Approval and issue. The final text will determine the wording of the requirements, Annexes A and B, and the prohibited terms.

• Proposed transition. The drafting group proposed 12 months from formal issue to change packaging bearing non-conforming names. The transition period has yet to be confirmed.

Companies can use the period before formal issue to compare registered names with labels, identify packaging that may need replacement, and estimate costs across registration, labelling and packaging.

Recommended Reading

• China Implements Fertilizer Marking Standard GB 18382—2021

• China's Fertilizer Registration Guidelines (October 2025)

Official References

• MIIT consultation notice, draft standards and drafting notes (in Chinese)

• National standard plan 20256769-Q-339 (in Chinese)