Industry body calls for tighter oversight as unauthorised crop protection products proliferate on e-commerce platforms
Bengaluru, NFAPost: As India’s agri-input ecosystem rapidly embraces digital commerce, CropLife India, the apex association representing 17 research-driven crop protection companies, has raised a red flag over the growing and largely unchecked sale of unauthorised pesticides on e-commerce platforms. The association has urged the government to urgently strengthen regulatory supervision, enforcement mechanisms, and platform-level accountability to protect farmers, food security, and the integrity of India’s agricultural supply chain.
The concerns were articulated at CropLife India’s National Conference on Crop Protection Products Sale on E-Commerce Platforms, held in New Delhi, which convened senior policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and digital commerce stakeholders. The timing of the discussion is significant, coming amid the government’s wider review of pesticide regulation under the Draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, where industry believes emerging risks linked to online sales must be addressed explicitly and without ambiguity.
Digital Convenience, Regulatory Blind Spots
While e-commerce has brought unprecedented convenience and access to farmers—particularly in remote and underserved regions—CropLife India warned that the online sale of hazardous agri-inputs without robust safeguards poses serious risks. Unlike conventional consumer goods, pesticides are highly regulated products, requiring strict controls on licensing, storage, sale, and traceability.
Speaking at the conference, Dr. P. K. Singh, Agriculture Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, cautioned against assuming that basic digital compliance checks are sufficient.
“Verifying GST documents of sellers is not enough when hazardous products like pesticides are sold online,” he said. “Quality assurance, traceability, and accountability across the supply chain are critical and deserve careful consideration under the Pesticides Management Bill, 2025.”
His remarks underscored a growing consensus among regulators that digital marketplaces cannot be treated as neutral intermediaries when dealing with products that directly impact human health, environmental safety, and agricultural productivity.
Shared Responsibility in a Digitising Rural Economy
Echoing these concerns, Dr. Subhash Chand, Secretary, Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIB&RC), highlighted the dual-edged nature of digitisation in rural India.
“E-commerce and digital platforms are expanding rapidly, but they also introduce new risks,” he observed. “Pesticides are hazardous substances, and as online sales grow, responsibility for compliance and farmer safety must be shared—not just by manufacturers and sellers, but also by platforms.”
Adding a digital commerce perspective, Mr. Ravi Shankar, Domain Lead – Agriculture at ONDC, stressed the importance of accurate cataloguing, advisory information, and end-to-end traceability. According to him, better digital design can empower farmers to distinguish genuine, authorised products from spurious or illegal ones, significantly reducing downstream risks.
Industry Seeks Regulation, Not Restriction
Addressing apprehensions that industry opposition could slow digital adoption, Mr. Ankur Aggarwal, Chairman of CropLife India, was categorical that the association does not oppose online sales per se.
“We are not against the sale of pesticides on e-commerce platforms,” he said. “Our engagement is about ensuring that regulatory and enforcement frameworks evolve with the realities of digital commerce. Tackling unauthorised products is a shared priority and is critical for farmer safety, food security, and consumer trust.”
CropLife India reiterated that crop protection products in India are governed by the Insecticides Act, 1968 and the Insecticides Rules, 1971, which establish a tightly controlled framework. Under existing law, pesticides may only be sold by licensed sellers, for specific products endorsed on their licence, within approved geographic jurisdictions, and backed by a valid Principal Certificate issued by the manufacturer or importer. These safeguards are designed to ensure authenticity, traceability, and accountability at every stage of the supply chain.
The E-Commerce Gap
However, the association pointed to a critical regulatory gap: e-commerce platforms facilitating pesticide sales are not explicitly required to obtain licences or approvals under pesticide law. Nor are they subject to clear statutory obligations to verify whether products listed online are endorsed on a seller’s licence or supported by valid Principal Certificates. This loophole, CropLife India warned, allows platforms to enable listings with limited accountability, increasing the risk of unauthorised or substandard products reaching farmers.
The risks are further amplified in inventory-based e-commerce models, where pesticides may be stored, handled, and dispatched from warehouses that are not licensed under the Insecticides Rules—despite identical activities requiring licensing in the offline supply chain. Such practices weaken regulatory oversight and make inspection, sampling, and enforcement significantly more challenging.
Misinterpretation of Rule 10E
CropLife India also drew attention to Rule 10E of the Insecticides Rules, introduced through a 2022 amendment, which permits online or doorstep delivery of pesticides. The association clarified that this provision does not dilute existing licensing, approval, or geographic restrictions.
According to industry representatives, Rule 10E has, in some cases, been misinterpreted to suggest that online sale or delivery removes the need for authorisations—an interpretation CropLife India strongly contests.
Under the current enforcement architecture, inspections and sampling are largely conducted at licensed premises. In contrast, pesticides moving through e-commerce supply chains—often via third-party warehouses and logistics providers—frequently fall outside routine regulatory supervision, making it difficult for authorities to trace responsibility or take swift action when violations are detected.
Looking Ahead: Regulated Enablement
While acknowledging that the Draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025 aims to modernise India’s regulatory framework, CropLife India noted that it does not yet address several e-commerce-specific issues, including platform accountability, licensing obligations in inventory-based models, and digital traceability mechanisms. The association plans to submit its consolidated recommendations through the formal consultation process.
“Digital commerce is an important and growing channel,” Mr. Aggarwal concluded. “The way forward is regulated enablement. As sale models evolve, regulatory and enforcement frameworks must evolve too—so that farmers receive genuine, compliant products and confidence in the system is preserved.”
As India balances the promise of digital agriculture with the imperatives of safety and compliance, the debate sparked by CropLife India signals a crucial policy crossroads—one that will shape how technology, regulation, and trust converge in the country’s agricultural future.
