Agrochemicals

The trade has two layers. Technical grade active ingredients, often called TC or technical, are made by synthesis plants and sold to formulators. Formulators then make the products farmers use, such as emulsifiable concentrates, suspension concentrates, wettable powders and water dispersible granules. Fertilizers follow a similar path from bulk producers to blenders, distributors and growers.

Crop protection products can only be sold where they are registered, and registration rules decide which technical source a formulator may use. If you plan to register a generic product, ask suppliers for a five-batch analysis, the impurity profile and whether their source has been assessed as equivalent to the reference product in your target country. Specifications usually follow FAO and WHO pesticide specifications and are tested with CIPAC methods. Several actives are banned or restricted in some regions, and some are covered by the Rotterdam Convention prior informed consent procedure, so check the status in both the exporting and the importing country before you buy.