Notice from the National Development and Reform Commission and 10 other departments (units) on Ensuring the Supply of Fertilizers and Other Agricultural Inputs During the 2017 Spring Ploughing Season

To the Development and Reform Commissions, Price Bureaus, Departments (Bureaus) of Industry and Information Technology, Finance Departments (Bureaus), Environmental Protection Departments (Bureaus), Departments (Commissions, Bureaus) of Agriculture (including animal husbandry and rural economy), competent authorities for commerce, Administration for Industry and Commerce (market regulation departments), Quality and Technical Supervision Bureaus (market regulation departments), all branch institutions of the National Energy Administration, and supply and marketing cooperatives of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, cities separately listed in the national plan, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; as well as to all railway bureaus:

With the peak spring‑plowing season of 2017 fast approaching, ensuring an adequate supply of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs is of great significance for safeguarding national food security, advancing supply‑side structural reform in agriculture, and increasing farmers’ incomes. To effectively ensure a sufficient supply of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs during the spring‑plowing period while keeping prices broadly stable, the following measures are hereby notified:

I. Fully Ensuring Fertilizer Production

During the spring‑plowing fertilizer‑preparation period and the peak fertilizer‑use season, all grid‑operating enterprises must make every effort to ensure that fertilizer producers have sufficient electricity. China National Petroleum Corporation, China Petrochemical Corporation, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, as well as relevant coal‑producing enterprises, are required to conscientiously fulfill their existing gas‑ and coal‑supply contracts to meet the gas and coal needs of fertilizer manufacturers. Local governments in all regions and departments—particularly in areas rich in fertilizer‑raw‑material resources and in regions with concentrated fertilizer and pesticide production capacity—should strengthen coordination and create a favorable external environment for fertilizer and pesticide production. Fertilizer and pesticide producers that comply with environmental standards shall be permitted to maintain normal operations during the spring‑plowing season. However, for pesticide manufacturers located in the “2+26” cities along the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei air‑pollution transmission corridor, whose production processes involve organic solvents and VOC emissions, a policy of temporary shutdowns will generally apply during the heating season; those that must remain operational to ensure agricultural production may do so only upon approval by the provincial government.

II. Strengthening Railway Transport Support

All railway bureaus must attach great importance to the railway transportation of fertilizers during the spring plowing season. In light of the relatively concentrated fertilizer production capacity and an increasingly fragmented market, they should carefully organize and allocate transport capacity, giving priority to meeting the outbound shipping needs of nitrogen fertilizer‑producing regions such as North China, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang; potash fertilizer‑producing areas like Qinghai and Xinjiang; and the southwestern region for phosphate fertilizer exports. At the same time, they should provide active support for the transport of raw materials required for fertilizer production, including coal and phosphate rock. Local economic regulation authorities should strengthen coordination and promptly address any major issues that arise during transportation. Relevant industry associations are expected to timely communicate information on fertilizer transportation demand.

III. Ensuring Adequate Market Supply

Agricultural input enterprises must proactively adapt to the changing demand resulting from adjustments in agricultural cropping patterns, ensuring they meet farmers’ needs for fertilizers and crop protection products. During the off-season fertilizer commercial reserve period, all designated storage entities are required to maintain full‑scale reserves in strict accordance with current regulations on off-season stockpiling and the terms of their reserve agreements, and to pre‑allocate off-season fertilizer to grassroots distribution centers in advance. Upon completion of the reserve period and with the onset of the peak spring‑fertilization season, these stocks should be promptly released for sale. Should localized price spikes or supply shortages occur during the reserve period, timely reporting to the competent authorities is mandatory; with their approval, off-season fertilizer may be released ahead of schedule. As for pesticide distributors, they should ensure adequate inventories of those product lines experiencing tight supply, thereby guaranteeing uninterrupted availability.

IV. Standardizing the Order of Production and Operations

Strengthen source‑level governance and market oversight of agricultural inputs; rigorously crack down on the production and sale of counterfeit or substandard fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides; prohibit the publication of false or illegal advertisements for agricultural inputs and misleading reports; prohibit price‑fixing conspiracies, price fraud, failure to display prices as required, and unlawful business practices in the e‑commerce sector. Promptly publicize typical cases through the media and make them available to the public on websites such as “Credit China.” Establish and improve credit records for market entities in the agricultural inputs sector, incorporating them into the National Credit Information Sharing Platform and the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. For those responsible for serious breaches of trust, implement joint punitive measures in accordance with the Memorandum on Joint Punitive Measures for Dishonesty in the Agricultural Inputs Field. Ensure smooth channels for consumer rights protection, complaints, and reports; fully leverage the role of relevant departments’ reporting and complaint hotlines; enforce a reward system for complaints and reports; encourage all sectors of society to actively participate in efforts to combat counterfeit and substandard agricultural inputs; enhance farmers’ awareness of and ability to protect their rights; and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of rural residents.

V. Striving to Enhance Service Quality

All relevant departments and industry associations should proactively adapt to the new developments in the agricultural and rural landscape, vigorously advance supply-side structural reform in agriculture, and accelerate the establishment of a modern agricultural industrial system, production system, and management system. They should actively support fertilizer and pesticide producers and distributors in building modern distribution networks, enhancing distribution efficiency, reducing distribution costs, and innovating service models. The supply-and-marketing, postal, and agricultural machinery systems should fully leverage their roles as comprehensive platforms for serving agriculture, facilitating the transformation of traditional agro-input distribution outlets into modern, integrated agro-input service providers. Efforts should be intensified to apply information technology in the agro-input distribution sector, promote the integrated development of the internet and the agro-input distribution industry, and advance the construction of an IoT‑based agro-input network. The standardization of agro-input distribution should be strengthened, and a quality‑traceability system for agro-inputs should be established. Furthermore, socialized service organizations should be vigorously developed, technical guidance services should be enhanced, farmers should be educated on scientific fertilization and pesticide application, scientifically sound practices should be promoted, and the use of environmentally friendly, high‑efficiency new‑generation fertilizers and pesticides should be encouraged.

Ensuring an adequate supply and broadly stable prices of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs during the spring plowing season is vital to the overall success of agricultural production, and local governments and relevant departments must attach great importance to this task. Any significant emerging, potential, or trend‑setting issues affecting the supply of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs during this period should be promptly coordinated and resolved, with timely reporting to the competent authorities under the State Council and to the people’s governments at the provincial level. All relevant industry associations are expected to fully play their role as bridges and linkages, actively promote industry‑wide self‑regulation and the development of a system of integrity, strengthen market research, and effectively monitor, forecast, issue early warnings, and disseminate information on the supply‑demand dynamics and price trends of fertilizers, pesticides, and other agricultural inputs during the spring plowing season, thereby guiding and fostering the stable operation of the market.