Deadline of the ban for paraquat AS production is coming, to guarantee the safety and regulate the production conditions of non-AS paraquat formulation production, recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in Beijing organized a seminar on specifications of non-AS paraquat formulation production conditions. The seminar invited some experts and manufacturer representatives from the paraquat industry. Mr. Zhang Wenming, director of Department of Raw Materials of MIIT, arranged the follow-up work of setting the specifications. Zhang expressed that the regulation work for non-AS paraquat formulation production will be opened for public comments in a few days. The seminar focused on the production specifications of paraquat SG (water soluble granule) and GW (water soluble gel), key product control indexes, and feasibility of the specifications.
According to the requirements of Announcement No. 1745 jointly issued by MOA, MIIT and AQSIQ, production of paraquat AS (aqueous solution) will be halted from July 1st, 2014, and domestic sale and use of paraquat aqueous solution will be prevented from July 1st 2016. Given the release of this ban, price of paraquat TC in the previous year kept soaring, but the approaching day of paraquat aqueous solution's doom will exert a negative impact on the price of paraquat TC if there is no suitable alternative formulation launched into the market in the future. However, since more than 70% of the paraquat aqueous solution is for export, and since the ban clearly states that "paraquat aqueous solution production for export is allowed,' the benefits of Chinas leading paraquat enterprises are temporarily protected, but in the long run, the R&D and production of non-AS paraquat formulation is the real solution to save paraquat. The setting of specifications of non-AS paraquat formulation production will undoubtedly bring the opportunity for the rebirth of China's paraquat industry.