On July 31, 2026, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) released the draft revised version of the Data Requirements for Pesticide Registration for public comment, with a deadline of August 21. This revision represents a major update that will exert a profound impact on pesticide registration and management in China over the next 5 to 10 years. In this article, the Agrochemical Business Division of CIRS Group provides a comprehensive overview of the main regulatory changes and analyzes their implications, offering decision-making references for pesticide registration and R&D personnel.

Effective August 15, 2026, China's MEE will eliminate new chemical filings to align with the Ecological and Environmental Code. Enterprises must submit simplified registration applications instead. Furthermore, foreign entities can no longer apply directly or modify certificates, making local Chinese importers the eligible applicants going forward.

On July 24, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register, formally releasing the draft risk assessment for 1,1,2-trichloroethane and opening the document for public comment. Based on existing scientific evidence, the EPA has preliminarily determined that this chemical substance poses an unreasonable risk to human health under certain conditions of use (COUs).

On August 6, 2026, the mandatory national standard GB 7916-2026 has been issued which will take effect on January 1, 2028

South Korea's NICS has fixed the upper, lower, and lowest handling quantities for 73 newly designated acute-toxic hazardous substances under Notice No. 2026-4.

Korea's NICS issued Administrative Notice No. 2026-77 proposing prescribed quantity thresholds for 38 newly designated hazardous chemicals.

China NHC issued notifications regarding the acceptance of “three new foods”. The applications for 3 new food materials and 1 new food additive have been received.

In July 2026, 18 new cosmetic ingredients were filed with China's NMPA, marking a 64% year-on-year increase and bringing the year-to-date total to 134. Domestic Chinese entities filed 15 of these ingredients—led by Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Guangdong—while overseas companies in Malaysia and the United States filed the remaining three.

Recently, China's National Health Commission (NHC) issued notifications regarding the approval and review of “Three new foods” (new food raw materials, new food additives, and new food-related products). The notifications included 17 notifications of extension notice.

China’s SAMR issued draft provisions replacing its 20-year-old probiotic regulations, restricting products strictly to live, non-GMO strains with full strain-level identity and genetic stability data. Commercial ingredients are now limited to single-strain formulas, while minimum daily live bacteria requirements increase tenfold to 107 CFU/mL(g). Crucially, the draft introduces a filing pathway alongside traditional registration, significantly accelerating market entry for approved strains while raising overall technical compliance standards.