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Regulation on Sale of Agricultural Pesticides on Shopee

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has observed a growing trend in home gardening edible plants. During the process of cultivating these edible plants, pesticides are sometimes used to control pests or diseases.

Learn how you can ensure food safety in home gardening as a consumer or seller. Food Safety Tips for Consumers As a consumer, it’s important to ensure that your edible plant produced is safe for consumption by following the SFA guidelines here. For more information on food safety, you can refer here.

Agricultural Pesticide Guidelines for Sellers The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) regulates the use of agricultural pesticides in food crop farms. Agricultural pesticide products intended for use in food crop farms require registration with SFA. These include synthetic chemical and biological pesticides, plant growth regulators and pesticide-containing biostimulant/fertiliser/soil conditioner.

A Hazardous Substances Licence / Permit is also required for agricultural pesticides containing any hazardous substance controlled under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA). If you are a seller of agricultural pesticides on Shopee, you must ensure that agricultural pesticides intended for use on food crop farms are registered with SFA and comply with regulation governing agricultural guidelines. For more information on pesticide registration guidelines, refer to the SFA guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the consequences of not abiding by the registration requirements for agricultural pesticides?

Under SFA, any person who is guilty of an offence under the Control of Plants (Registration of Pesticides) Rules shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

All non-compliant listings on the Shopee platform, flagged by regulators, will be banned. Sellers will receive a notification on the banned listings and can relist their products should they be able to provide supporting evidence that their products bear the SFA registration mark on the product labels.

2. Does this requirement apply to all overseas & local sellers?

Yes, this requirement applies to both overseas and local sellers who wish to sell agricultural pesticides on the Shopee platform in Singapore.

3. How do I register my agricultural pesticides?

Sellers of such products should read SFA’s Guidelines for Pesticide Registration. They will be required to submit an application form to SFA. Each application form is for the registration of one product only. The Guidelines for Pesticide Registration, registration requirements and application form are available on SFA website.

4. How do I know whether an agricultural pesticide is already registered?

The list of pesticides approved for use by SFA are available here.

5. Where can I find more information regarding sales of vector control pesticides and repellents on Shopee?

Under the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act (CVPA), all pesticides and repellent products intended for use against the five vectors (i.e. mosquitoes, flies, rodents, cockroaches and rat fleas) are required to be registered with the National Environment Agency (NEA) prior to any sale, supply or advertising in Singapore.

For more information, you can refer here.