ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has expressed serious concern that the presence of counterfeit and adulterated pesticides is a serious problem for agriculture sector of Pakistan.
A CCP new report on pesticides revealed that counterfeit pesticides have adversely impacted productivity, farmer incomes, environmental sustainability, and fair market competition.
“The offenders particularly those involved in the adulteration, counterfeiting, or misbranding of pesticides frequently escape with minimal penalties or no accountability. As a result, genuine pesticide manufacturers and dealers face an uneven playing field, while farmers are exposed to substandard and harmful products,” the report added.
Since all pesticides are imported in bulk containers and repacked locally for commercial sale, this stage of the supply chain becomes vulnerable to adulteration. During this process, pesticides are mixed with substandard or diluted materials to increase volume or by substituting them with cheaper, less effective chemicals. These counterfeit products are often packaged in a way that closely imitates genuine brands, misleading farmers and disrupting the
market. The issue is particularly prevalent in the cotton-growing regions of Punjab and Sindh, where the use of low-quality pesticides leads to poor pest control, reduced crop yields, and growing resistance among pests. Farmers bear the financial burden of the losses, while genuine companies face unfair competition.
Moreover, adulterated pesticides may contain harmful substances that pose serious risks to human health and contribute to soil and water pollution. Some of the instances have recently been reported.
One of the challenges facing the pesticide sector is limited testing and quality assurance mechanism, due to inadequate laboratory capacity and shortage of trained manpower.
Although pesticide testing laboratories exist at both federal and provincial levels, their number is inadequate relative to the volume of pesticide imports and domestic formulations. Most of these labs are under-resourced that lacks modern equipment, standardised protocols, and sufficient operational budgets for timely and accurate testing of pesticide samples. In addition to infrastructural limitations, there is a shortage of qualified technical staff, such as chemists, toxicologists, and laboratory technicians, needed to conduct quality analysis.
As a result, many pesticide products inadequately assessed before reaching the market. The limited testing capability also creates bottlenecks in pre-shipment inspections and post-market surveillance, the CCP added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.