Chinese trade name regulations only halfway there

Despite regulations banning the use of pesticide trade names in China being in force for a year, the number of branded retail pesticide products has only fallen by around half, reports the regional Chinese newspaper, the Nanfang Daily. In December 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture issued regulations banning the retail use of pesticide trade names, stating that from July 2008 all products would have to be sold only with generic names. It was expected that the move would reduce the more than 23,000 previously existing trade name products to 1,700 generic names ( Agrow No 535, p 19).