The State Council has recently issued the Regulations on Crop Pest and Disease Prevention and Control (the "Regulations") which will enter into force as of May 1, 2020.
The Regulations regulate the work on preventing and controlling crop pests and diseases, from four perspectives. The first is clearly specifying the responsibilities for the prevention and control. Agricultural producers and operators shall make efforts in the prevention and control, within their respective product or business scope, and fully cooperate with people's governments at all levels and relevant departments in the prevention and control. The second is refining the prevention and control systems. Efforts should be made to strengthen the development and management of networks to monitor crop pests and diseases, regulate what is monitored and the information reporting, and designate the subjects in charge of disclosing predictions about possible crop pests and diseases. The third is standardizing the specialized prevention and control services. Organizations specialized in services in relation to crop pest and disease prevention and control will be encouraged and aided, and authorities of agriculture and rural affairs of the people's governments above the county level will be required to provide technical training and guidance for such specialized service organizations. And the fourth is advocating environmentally-friendly prevention and control. Science and technology innovation regarding crop pest and disease prevention and control, transformation and law-based promotion and application of the fruits of innovation, will be advocated and supported, and the application of information technology and biotechnology will be generalized to make the prevention and control more intelligent, professional and environmentally-friendly.