China Orders E-Commerce Platforms to Clean Up Pesticide, Vet Drug Sales

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs convened a symposium with 17 major e-commerce platforms, including JD.com, Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin, and Kuaishou, directing them to step up oversight of online sales of pesticides and veterinary drugs. The move is part of a seven-department campaign running from July 2026 to March 2027 targeting the entire supply chain of banned and restricted agricultural chemicals. While platforms have removed non-compliant listings, regulators warned that problems such as lax qualification checks, deceptive marketing, disguised sales of prohibited substances, and weak controls over veterinary prescription drugs remain prevalent.

Pesticides and veterinary drugs directly affect food safety, grain production, and ecological stability. The crackdown targets hidden online sales channels, pressuring large internet platforms to eliminate gray-market transactions for restricted agricultural chemicals.

BEIJING — China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has instructed major e-commerce companies to tighten oversight of online sales of pesticides and veterinary pharmaceuticals, state media reported on September 20. At a symposium organized by the ministry’s special task force for comprehensive pesticide and veterinary drug rectification, officials met with representatives from 17 third-party platforms, including JD.com, Alibaba’s Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin, and Kuaishou, according to reports by Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily. The meeting reviewed progress on a nationwide rectification campaign jointly launched by seven government departments in July 2026. Scheduled to conclude in March 2027, the initiative targets the entire supply chain—spanning production, distribution, digital retail, and application—to suppress the illegal trade and misuse of banned and restricted agricultural inputs. Officials acknowledged that online marketplaces have conducted self-inspections, purged illicit listings, and penalized non-compliant vendors during the initial stages of the campaign. However, regulators identified persistent weaknesses in digital compliance. Key issues highlighted included lax merchant qualification verification, deceptive advertising, the disguised sale of prohibited or restricted pesticides, and deficient controls over veterinary prescription drugs. The ministry’s task force emphasized that platform operators must assume primary responsibility for their marketplaces. Regulators ordered the platforms to verify vendor business licenses, audit product listings, strengthen monitoring of sensitive chemical varieties, and swiftly remove illegal goods and storefronts. Platforms were also directed to report major illegal leads immediately and assist law enforcement in tracing unauthorized products back to their physical, offline sources. Platform representatives at the symposium agreed to cooperate closely with agricultural authorities. According to the state media reports, the companies committed to refining their internal governance mechanisms, enhancing technological risk-detection capabilities, verifying suspect leads, and penalizing violations to foster regularized, long-term industry oversight.