CropLife India Pushes For 5-Yr Data Protection In Pesticide Bill, Regulation Of E-Comm Platforms

CropLife India, which represents nearly 70% of the domestic pesticide industry, has urged the government to include a five-year regulatory data protection provision in the draft Pesticides Management Bill (PMB), warning that its absence is discouraging companies from introducing newer and safer crop protection technologies in India.

Addressing reporters on Friday, CropLife India Chairman Ankur Aggarwal said that under the current framework — still anchored in the Insecticides Act, 1968 — there is no protection for the extensive safety, efficacy, residue and environmental data that a company must generate before registering a new pesticide.

"In the absence of Regulatory Data Protection (RDP), innovators are unable to recover their investments. Farmers in turn continue to depend on older and generic molecules, many of which are more hazardous and less effective against evolving pest resistance," he said.

The association has submitted formal recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on the draft bill, proposing a time-bound framework of five years from first registration. The proposal would cover both patented new molecules and off-patent ones where a company has independently generated fresh registration data.

Indian agriculture loses between 10 and 35% of annual crop output to pests and diseases — translating to over ₹2 lakh crore in economic damage each year.

Of the 338 molecules currently registered in India, a large share were introduced three to four decades ago. Meanwhile, China offers six years of data protection after first registration, and the EU, Brazil and the United States each provide ten years.

Aggarwal said newer chemistries are more targeted, require lower doses, and are better suited to mounting challenges -- erratic pest pressures, growing resistance, and tightening residue requirements in key export markets such as the EU and the UK.

Industry bodies in Assam have already flagged that nearly 40 million kilograms of premium tea exports face exposure to stricter European residue norms.

The Satwant Reddy Committee (2007) had recommended three years of data exclusivity to honour India's TRIPs obligations, and the Dalwai Committee on Doubling Farmers' Income (2018) had endorsed regulatory data protection as a tool to attract investment in newer pesticides.

The association also flagged the unregulated growth of online pesticide sales as a serious loophole, noting that e-commerce platforms are currently not required to obtain licences, verify seller credentials or enforce approved geographic restrictions — allowing spurious products to reach farmers unchecked.

On corporate liability, CropLife India cautioned against indiscriminate prosecution of directors and senior officials with no operational link to an alleged violation, recommending instead that only nominated responsible persons — on the model of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 — be held liable.

The submission further raised alarms over emergency prohibition provisions in the draft bill that could, in practice, convert a temporary measure into a de facto permanent ban without conclusive scientific findings - a significant departure from the 60-to-90-day ceiling under the 1968 Act.

"The final law must keep regulation science-based and time-bound, act firmly against illegal trade, and create a credible pathway for newer, safer and more effective crop protection technologies to reach farmers faster," Aggarwal said.