Fipronil Detected Using on Vegetables

Fipronil, a kind of phenylpyrazole insecticide, was traced on the vegetables in a vegetable market in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, in early June of 2012. As China has banned the sales and application of it since Oct. 2009 except for overseas sales, hygienic application and application as seed treatment on some crops, the news suddenly attracted the public in China who are very alert to such kind of food safety event in recent years, based on CCM International’s latest issue of Crop Protection China News.

 

However, different from other banned pesticide products used on agricultural produces which were exposed by media, many insiders in China took an attitude of being inured towards the illegal use of fipronil, and illegally adding fipronil into insecticide products as recessive composition is an open secret in domestic pesticide market. It is believed that this phenomenon may be caused by the incomplete ban on fipronil in China.

As a highly efficient insecticide, fipronil owns an excellent control effect against a wide range of pests on a variety of crops, especially the pests on rice like rice brown plant hopper. However, owing to its high toxicity to aquatic organisms and bees and long-lasting residue in soil and water, the Chinese government planned to ban the use of fipronil to protect the environment.

 

On 25 Feb., 2009, China's Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Environmental Protection jointly released a notice to stop the approval of registration and production applications of formulations containing fipronil and to ban the production of related formulations from 1 April, 2009. The use and sales of pesticide formulations containing fipronil were banned from 1 Oct., 2009.

 

However, eyeing the good capacity of fipronil in managing cockroach and soil insects, the Chinese government didn't cancel the registration of fipronil formulation applied for sanitary pests and seed treatment. Besides, the production of fipronil TC for export and as the raw material of fipronil formulations for export were also not banned.

Therefore, there are still many companies that got registration of fipronil in China. According to the information from China Pesticide Information Network, up to 4 June, 2012, 59 kinds of fipronil products from 25 pesticide enterprises in China got production registration, including TC, SE, seed treatment agent, sanitary insecticide, etc.

 

As the production and use of fipronil as sanitary insecticide and seed treatment agent are allowed, it is difficult to ensure that all the pesticide enterprises, dealers and peasants in China will completely obey the banning law. As there is still no high-efficiency product in China to replace fipronil in managing flea beetle and thrips on vegetables, the complete ban on the use of fipronil in vegetable planting areas, especially in southern part of China, is still a very tough problem. Moreover, the regular insecticides from large pesticide enterprises are now facing an increasing insecticide resistance of vegetable insects, adding fipronil as recessive composition in regular insecticides becomes very popular in these areas.

 

Actually, fipronil is also illegally used in rice planting areas in China. Although some high efficient and low toxicity products have been developed and introduced to China, such as chlorantraniliprole and ethiprole, the higher profit of selling fipronil allows it to be illegally and frequently used in many rice planting areas in China.

Source: Crop Protection China News 1211

http://www.cnchemicals.com/Newsletter/NewsletterDetail_16.html

Content of Crop Protection China News 1211:

Fipronil detected using on vegetables

Turbofus still popular in main sugarcane planting areas

New pesticide solvents for EW formulation developed

Mollic decreases sharply in China

Regulations on Agricultural Insurance to be released

ABA Chemicals to firstly involve in pesticide industry

Anhui Huilong to further expand in South China

Nantong Jiangshan to sell subsidiary

Ex-factory price of abamectin 95% TC increases sharply in early June 2012

Crop Protection China News, a semimonthly publication issued by CCM International on 15th and 30th(31st) of every month, aims to gain a deep insight into Chinese market, supply the latest market data and strategy support, analyze the newest legislation and policy and grasp the future market trend.

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