The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) has drafted a new law aimed at making pesticide regulation in the country more effective and contemporary. This draft will replace the currently applicable Insecticides Act, 1968, and the Insecticides Rules, 1971, which are becoming irrelevant in light of changing agricultural needs, technological advancements, and environmental concerns. The existing legislation was drafted nearly five decades ago, when the agricultural landscape, pest management techniques, and global standards were significantly different from what they are today. The new draft law aims to align the regulatory framework with current requirements, ensure the safety of farmers, and minimize the adverse effects of pesticides on the environment and human health.

The proposed law emphasizes making the provisions related to the registration, manufacturing, import, export, sale, and use of pesticides more transparent and stringent. It will strengthen the processes of scientific evaluation, risk assessment, and quality control to ensure that only safe and effective pesticides are permitted.  Furthermore, the draft law is likely to include stricter penal provisions to curb counterfeit and illegal pesticides. This will protect farmers from losses due to substandard products and improve the quality of agricultural produce. The institutional framework will also be strengthened to enhance the accountability and capacity of regulatory bodies.

A significant aspect of the new law is the promotion of sustainable agriculture. It encourages the use of bio-pesticides, integrated pest management (IPM), and environmentally friendly alternatives. This will reduce over-reliance on chemical pesticides and ensure long-term agricultural sustainability. Overall, this draft law prepared by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is a significant step towards making India's pesticide regulation modern, scientific, and farmer-centric. Its implementation will not only enhance the safety of farmers and consumers but also help Indian agriculture move forward in line with global standards.

Key Features of the Bill

¨     Modernise India’s regulatory framework on pesticides: The Bill recommends granting registration to bona fide applicants with the required and verified manufacturing facilities, ensuring that pesticides are produced without compromising on quality, safety, or efficacy.

¨     Unified Control: Moving away from fragmented state-centric systems, the bill declares pesticide regulation as a Union subject.

Two-tier institutional framework

¨     Central Pesticides Board — advisory body for scientific and technical policy.

¨     Registration Committee — executive body responsible for granting, reviewing, suspending, or cancelling pesticide registrations.

¨     Quality Assurance: Mandatory accreditation of testing laboratories to ensure quality pesticides reach farmers.

¨     Strengthening enforcement at the local level: Provisions for compounding of offences with enhanced penalties to be defined by State-level authorities.

¨     Striking a balance: Seeks to balance ease of living for farmers with ease of doing business for industry stakeholders.

¨     Promoting ease of living: Incorporate provisions such as transparency and traceability to ensure better service to farmers.

¨     Digital Inclusion: Incorporates digital methods and technology to streamline processes.

¨     “Farmer-centric” Policy: The draft aims to improve service delivery and access to quality pesticides while maintaining ease of doing business for industry stakeholders.

Issues and Concerns

¨     There is concern in the plant-protection industry over inspector- and licence-driven regimes hindering research on new molecules in the absence of adequate regulatory data protection.

¨     The draft does not mention pricing, leaving it to the companies concerned to determine the cost price. 

¨     The Bill should decriminalise minor procedural violations like labelling or documentation errors and address them through monetary penalties or administrative sanctions, reserving criminal punishment only for serious offences such as manufacturing or selling unregistered, counterfeit, or adulterated pesticides.

¨     In the present draft, regulatory data protection is missing, which discourages the industry from investing in new molecules which are off patent.

¨     The draft (2008) recognised the necessity of regulatory data protection for five years.