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Informist, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – CropLife India--the crop protection industry body--has urged the government to strengthen regulatory checks on unauthorised pesticides sales on e-commerce platforms. Though the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025 aims to regulate the sector, it does not explicitly place accountability on online platforms, including licence obligations, it added.

 

"We are not against the sale of pesticides on e-commerce platforms. This engagement is about ensuring that regulatory and enforcement frameworks evolve with the realities of digital commerce," Ankur Aggarwal, Chairman, CropLife India, said at an event on Wednesday. He stressed the need to curb unauthorised pesticides to ensure farmer safety, food security, and consumer trust.

 

The agriculture ministry has recently relased the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, proposing reforms in India's pesticides regulatory framework to ensure the quality of agrochemical products and tighten control over spurious pesticides. The draft bill aims to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968 as well as the Insecticides Rules, 1971.

 

"However, under the existing framework, e-commerce platforms facilitating the sale of pesticides are not currently required to obtain licences or approvals specifically under pesticide law, nor are they subject to explicit statutory obligations to verify whether products listed online are endorsed on the seller's licence or supported by valid Principal Certificates," the release said. This increases the risk of anauthorised products reaching farmers, it added.

 

In inventory-based e-commerce models, pesticides may be stored, handled and dispatched from warehouses that are not licensed under the Insecticides Rules. But in offline sales, identical activities require licensing and other certificates.

 

The basic compliance checks by e-commerce platforms such as goods and services tax documents of sellers may not be sufficient when hazardous agri-inputs are sold online, said P.K. Singh, agriculture commissioner, at CropLife's event Wednesday. Meanwhile, Open Network for Digital Commerce's agriculture domain lead Ravi Shankar highlighted the need for better cataloguing, advisory details and traceability to help farmers identify genuine products and reduce the risk of spurious inputs.

 

"Digital commerce is an important and growing channel," Aggarwal said. "The way forward is regulated enablement. As sale models evolve, regulatory and enforcement frameworks must evolve as well, so that farmers receive genuine, compliant products and confidence in the system is preserved." The association said it will submit its consolidated feedback to the draft Bill through formal consultations by Feb. 4. 

 

Reported by Afra Abubacker

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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