Government sources revealed on September 12 that the Agricultural Chemicals Registration System based on the Agricultural Chemicals Control Act will be revised in order to promote use of low-price generic chemicals (patent-expired) among local farmers.
It is expected that the Government will simplify the registration rules by following those in the United States and European countries where use of generic chemicals has been spreading among farmers. The new Registration System will start in fiscal 2017.
The government officials hope agricultural chemical manufacturers will be able to considerably reduce costs of registering new chemicals with their safety being assured under the revised Registration System.
The Government will be required to ensure the safety of generic chemicals for consumers of farm products, while the revised Registration System is expected to lower prices of those chemicals in the market.
Sales of generic agricultural chemical manufacturers now occupy about thirty percent in the global chemical market.
In the Japanese chemical market, however, the share of generic ones is less than 5 percent, because Japanese chemical registration rules, stricter than those in Western countries, have forced chemical makers to pay a large amount of costs of registering generic chemicals, almost similar to those necessary for new chemicals.
The Government and ruling parties have been studying on how to cut prices of agricultural production materials including chemicals. As part of the cost reduction package for farmers, the Government reportedly decided to revise the rules for agricultural chemical registration.