How agricultural chemicals are regulated in South Africa

Agricultural chemicals in South Africa and how Act 36 controls them

Agricultural chemicals, also called agrochemicals, are the pesticides, plant growth regulators and fertilisers used on farms. In South Africa the pesticide side, which the law calls agricultural remedies, must be registered with the Department of Agriculture's Registrar of Act 36 of 1947 before anyone may import, make or sell it, and the most hazardous products are registered as restricted, with limits on who may use them (registration guidance and 2023 regulations).

What are agrochemicals?

The FAO's AGROVOC thesaurus defines agrochemicals as "chemical compounds, generally synthetic and industrially manufactured, used in agriculture as fertilizers, pesticides or soil conditioners" (FAO AGROVOC). People also say agrichemicals, ag chemicals, farm chemicals, farm pesticides and chemical pesticides.

How Act 36 of 1947 defines agricultural remedies and fertilisers

South Africa regulates farm inputs under the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947, in force since 1 June 1948 (Act 36 of 1947, consolidated).

An agricultural remedy is a chemical substance or biological remedy, or a mixture of them, intended or offered to destroy, control, repel, attract or prevent an undesired microbe, alga, nematode, fungus, insect, plant, vertebrate, invertebrate or any product of them. Anything already controlled under the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act 101 of 1965 or the Hazardous Substances Act 15 of 1973 is excluded from that group. Plant growth regulators, defoliants, desiccants and legume inoculants are remedies as well, and so is anything else the Minister declares in the Gazette (Act 36 of 1947).

A fertilizer is any substance intended or offered to improve or maintain plant growth or soil productivity. Fertilisers are agrochemicals, but they are registered as fertilizers, not as agricultural remedies (Act 36 of 1947).

Stock remedies for animals are registered under Act 36. Veterinary medicines fall under Act 101 of 1965 (Policy on Stock Remedies, Gazette 29240).

The core rules for selling and using agricultural pesticides

Section 7(1) says no person may sell an agricultural remedy unless it is registered under the name or mark it is sold under. It must also be packed and labelled as prescribed, and match the composition and efficacy stated in the application (Act 36 of 1947).

Section 7(2) applies when the use is for reward or in the course of a business. You may not use or recommend a remedy for a purpose or in a manner other than the label. And you may not use it unless you are a registered pest control operator, or you work under the supervision of one. The Minister may also prohibit acquisition, disposal, sale or use by Gazette notice, outright or under conditions (Act 36, section 7bis).

How to register an agricultural remedy

Only a South African citizen, or a juristic person with a registered office in South Africa, can apply. The 2023 regulations also require the applicant to be resident in South Africa. If someone else already holds the registration, you need that holder's permission (gov.za: agricultural remedy registration and 2023 regulations).

The application needs toxicology, efficacy, residue studies, and physical specifications (registration guidance). Under section 3(2), the Registrar registers it only if it is suitable and sufficiently effective, meets the prescribed requirements, is not contrary to the public interest, and is made in a suitable establishment (Act 36).

Pesticide applications are now online only: the Department of Agriculture launched an online system in December 2023 and stopped accepting manual pesticide applications from 1 April 2026. On the department's figures, turnaround runs from two weeks to 24 months, depending on the application type (Department of Agriculture, 24 Nov 2025). The gov.za service page still describes posting forms to Pretoria, so confirm the current route with the Directorate Agriculture Inputs Control (012 319 7103/7847, AICHelpdesk@daff.gov.za).

From 1 April 2026, registering an agricultural remedy costs R 13 956 per product. The registration is valid for three years (GN 7119, Gazette 54123).

The label must show the trade mark, the registration number ("Reg. No. ... Act No. 36 of 1947"), toxicity category, formulation type and purpose, batch number, manufacturing date, net contents, and the contact person's name and address. The container must comply with SANS 10229 (registration guidance).

The 2023 regulations and substances of concern

The Regulations Relating to Agricultural Remedies, 2023, replaced the 2006 agricultural remedies regulations (GN 3812, Gazette 49189). A remedy must perform without unreasonable adverse effects on human health and the environment, and residues on food must comply with the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972 (2023 regulations). The Minister of Health sets those residue limits in the 1994 residue regulations (GN R.246), since amended many times, including by GN 119 of 10 February 2020.

Regulation 8(1)(d) bars registration of a remedy that contains a substance of concern, or that is banned in South Africa, unless a derogation applies. From 1 June 2024 that bar applies to new registrations, and a renewal must include a declaration that the product contains no substance of concern (2023 regulations).

Annexure A defines a substance of concern as (2023 regulations):

• a carcinogen, mutagen or reproductive toxicant in GHS category 1A or 1B
• an active ingredient in Annex A or B of the Stockholm Convention, or one meeting its Annex D criteria, except DDT used for malaria vector control by the Department of Health
• an active ingredient listed under the Montreal Protocol

Where no alternative exists, the Registrar may still register a substance of concern for a set period and for restricted uses. You need one of these grounds, not all of them: negligible exposure risk, the product is essential against a serious danger, or refusing approval would have a disproportionate negative impact on society. The applicant publishes its risk assessment for public comment first (regulations 8(6) and 8(7)).

Glufosinate ammonium, a reproductive toxicant 1B, went out for comment in December 2024 (GN 5639, Gazette 51711). Spirodiclofen, a carcinogen 1B, followed in April 2025 (GN 6115).

Registrations last three years. Apply for renewal at least 60 days before expiry, and send annual sales reports by 31 May for the previous calendar year (regulations 10 and 35). Amended regulations (GN 5399) were published in October 2024, so confirm the current text with the Registrar before you file.

Restricted agricultural remedies

A restricted remedy may still be sold, but only to authorised users for the uses on its label. A banned remedy is different: all uses have been prohibited by final regulatory action (regulations 1 and 33).

Annexure A sets the restricted criteria. These are the chemical hazards in agriculture that put a remedy on the restricted list (2023 regulations):

• formulations in WHO hazard class Ia or Ib
• formulations in GHS acute toxicity category 1 or 2
• active ingredients and formulations listed in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention
• products that have shown a high incidence of severe or irreversible effects on human health or the environment

The label must carry "RESTRICTED" at the top of the secondary panel, with a "RESTRICTED USES" heading, directions, rates, timing and limits (regulation 20). Regulation 33(4) forbids supplying a restricted remedy to anyone not authorised to use it. Sellers, online shops included, must give distributors, advisors and users safety instructions, training and awareness (regulation 33(6)).

The register snapshot used for this article lists 200 restricted product entries, about 50 active ingredients or mixtures. Acute toxicity accounts for 185. Nine are paraquat, paraquat/diquat and methomyl products, listed for severe or irreversible effects. Six, covering alachlor, carbofuran and carbosulfan, are listed for Rotterdam Annex III. Aluminium phosphide has 30 products. Next are oxamyl (21), paraquat (15, plus 5 mixtures with diquat or diuron), methomyl (14) and chlorothalonil (14). Most entries are insecticides, including nematicides and fumigants, then 37 herbicides, 15 fungicides and 4 rodenticides.

Terbufos, which the Cabinet statement calls Galiphirimi, is on that snapshot too. In June 2025 Cabinet approved the ban on terbufos and its importation, after six children died in Naledi, Soweto, and the Department of Agriculture was to lead consultation (Cabinet statement, 12 Jun 2025). Don't treat that as a finished prohibition. Check the department's gazette notices before you assume those products can no longer be sold.

Finding agricultural chemical suppliers in South Africa

Every registered agricultural remedy carries an L number on the label ("Reg. No. ... Act No. 36 of 1947"), and the certificate names the holder (registration guidance and regulation 8(2)). Use it to find pesticide companies that hold a registration, not every shop that stocks the product.

The Registrar must provide a quarterly updated list of registered agricultural remedies (regulation 39). The online system also generates public lists of registered pesticides (Department of Agriculture, 24 Nov 2025). Before you buy, match the label's L number to the current list. If the entry is missing, ask the Registrar. A published list can lag the decision.

You can ask RegAffairs AI how agricultural chemicals are regulated in South Africa and get the restricted list with registration numbers and holders.