The Ministry of Agriculture recently issued the Document stating that those who alter pesticide labels or give away free expired pesticides will be punished.

First, the Document gives a clear definition of altering the date of manufacture of pesticides. The pesticide label should contain both “date of manufacture” and “period of validity”. The label of separate-packaging pesticides should be consistent with the label used by the manufacturer and contain the “separate-packaging date”. The label cannot be altered without authorization with any method such as using stickers or whiting out. Those who alter the “date of manufacture” or “separate-packaging date” with any method including using adhesive stickers should be deemed unauthorized alteration and should be punished according to Article 40.3 of the Regulations on Pesticide Administration. If the product quality fails the test by relevant qualification agencies, the concerning party should be deemed manufacturing or selling fake or inferior pesticides and should be punished according to Article 43 of the Regulations on Pesticide Administration.

Second, the Document has defined giving away free “expired pesticides”. The behavior of giving pesticides to consumers in the name of giveaway, award or bundle sales should be deemed a pesticide operation behavior. Those who give away expired pesticides without marking words like “expired pesticide” should be deemed selling pesticides that are not labeled with “expired pesticide” and exceed the quality guarantee period and should be punished according to Article 39 of the Implementation Measures of the Regulations on Pesticide Administration. The behavior of giving away, rewarding or bundling without a pesticide registration certificate should be deemed operation without a pesticide registration certificate, and those involved should be punished according to Article 40.1 of the Regulations on Pesticide Administration.