Lok Sabha Question No. 842 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-07
Subject: Supply of Spurious Chemicals
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Shri Ajay Kumar Mandal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICALS AND PETROCHEMICALS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 842

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07/02/2025

## SUPPLY OF SPURIOUS CHEMICALS

## 842 SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state :-

- (a) whether the Government has received any complaints regarding supply of spurious chemicals that are either locally manufactured or imported in the country;
- (b) if so, whether the Government has taken any action against any individual or company involved in supply of spurious chemicals;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government has fixed any standards for maintaining quality of chemicals, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a) to (c) Chemical Sector is broadly de-licensed and de-regulated except for few hazardous chemicals. Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) implements various provisions of the Insecticides Act, 1968 to ensure supply of quality pesticides to farmers in the  country.  Rule  9  of  the  Insecticides  Rules,  1971  provides  that  no  insecticide  can  be manufactured, stocked, sold or exhibited for sale without a license granted by the licensing officer  appointed  by  the  State  Governments,  who  grants  the  license  after  satisfying  the availability  of  necessary  plant  and  machinery,  safety  devices,  first  aid-facility,  in  the premises where the insecticide is proposed to be manufactured or sold or distributed.

Further, to ensure that quality insecticides are available in the market, under section 20 of the Insecticide Act, 1968, 12316 officers of various State Governments and 207 Officers of Central Government are notified as Insecticide Inspectors and they have been vested with powers to search premises, seize documents, stop distribution or sale of insecticides. These inspectors regularly conduct inspections of the manufacturing firms and dealers/retailers in the area of their jurisdiction to check the sale of any low quality/misbranded/unregistered pesticides  and  take  insecticide  samples  for  their  quality  analysis.  The  analysis  of  these samples is carried out by Insecticide Analysts appointed by Central or State Governments. The  standard  procedures  approved  by  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards  (BIS)  or  the Registered  Product  Specification  (RPS)  of  the  Central  Insecticides  Board  &  Registration

File No. C-I-41011/2/2025-CHEM. I-CPC (Computer No. 3023442)

Committee (CIB&RC) are used for sample  testing of insecticides.

If any sample fails the testing, action is taken as per the provisions of the Insecticide Act, 1968. A total of 80,789 pesticide samples were analysed during the year 2023-24, and out of  which  2,222  pesticide  samples  were  found  to  be  substandard  which  is  2.7%  of  total samples and appropriate legal action has been initiated.

(d) Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) formulates standards for chemicals & petrochemicals  and  most  of  the  standards  are  presently  voluntary  in  nature.  To  ensure manufacture and import of quality chemicals & petrochemicals, Department of Chemicals &  Petrochemicals  has  initiated  an  exercise  to  make  BIS  standards  as  mandatory  under Section 16 of  BIS Act, 2016. Till  date, Department of Chemicals  &  Petrochemicals  has notified 75 Quality Control Orders to make BIS standards as mandatory.

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