Control of Plants (Cultivation of Plants) (Licensing and Certification) Rules

An authorised officer may, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any crop or consignment of any plant, fresh fruit or vegetable produced for sale or supply by any licensee contains any residue of any unregistered pesticide or any residue of any permitted pesticide exceeding the level referred to in rule 20(1)(f)(ii), at any time enter the farm of the licensee and —

No payment shall be made for any sample taken under paragraph (1).

Where an authorised officer takes any sample under paragraph (1), the following procedure shall apply:

Where an authorised officer has prohibited the harvest of a crop or the distribution or sale of any consignment pending the result of the laboratory analysis or examination of the sample taken therefrom under paragraph (1), the authorised officer —

Any person who —

Where the result of the laboratory analysis or examination of the sample taken under paragraph (1) confirms that the sample does not contain any residue of any unregistered pesticide or any residue of any permitted pesticide exceeding the level referred to in rule 20(1)(f)(ii), the authorised officer shall forthwith lift the prohibition against the harvest of the crop or direct the release of the consignment, as the case may be.

Where the result of the laboratory analysis or examination of the sample taken under paragraph (1) confirms that the sample does contain any unregistered pesticide or any residue of any permitted pesticide exceeding the level referred to in rule 20(1)(f)(ii), the authorised officer may, in accordance with such directions as the Director-General may give, order that the whole crop or consignment from which the sample is taken be seized and dealt with or disposed of in accordance with section 40(1)(b) or (c) of the Act.

In addition to the general powers conferred by section 37(1) of the Act and the powers conferred by these Rules, an authorised officer may, at any time —

Any person who obstructs any authorised officer in the exercise of his powers under this rule shall be guilty of an offence.

In determining whether to issue or refuse to issue a licence to an applicant, the Director-General may consider the suitability of the land or premises to be licensed for use as a farm.

For the purposes of paragraph (1), the Director-General may, at any time —

The Director-General may refuse to issue a licence to an applicant if —

Paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to an application for the renewal of a licence.

Where a licence has been lost or defaced before its expiry, the licensee may apply to the Director-General for the issue of a certified true copy of the licence.

Upon receiving an application under paragraph (1) and the payment of the appropriate fee specified in the First Schedule, the Director-General shall issue a certified true copy of the licence to the licensee and the certified true copy of the licence so issued shall have the same effect as the original thereof.

Any licensee to whom a certified true copy of a licence has been issued in replacement of a licence which he has lost shall, upon discovering the original licence, forthwith return the certified true copy of the licence to the Director-General.

No certified true copy of a licence shall be issued in place of a defaced licence unless the defaced licence is surrendered to the Director-General for cancellation.

No refund shall be made for the fee paid —

A licensee shall, upon the receipt of a notice, referred to in section 32(3) of the Act, of the revocation or suspension of his licence, forthwith surrender his licence to the Director-General.

The Director-General shall, upon the expiry of the period of suspension of a licence which has been surrendered to him under paragraph (1), return the licence to the person to whom the licence was issued if the licence has not at that time expired.

The Director-General may, at any time, issue to any licensee such written directives as he thinks necessary for the proper management and operation of a farm.

Where a licence is revoked or suspended under section 32 of the Act, the Director-General may issue to the person whose licence was revoked or suspended such written directives as he thinks necessary for the proper care and handling of the plants in the farm to which the licence relates.

Every licensee or person to whom any written directive is issued by the Director-General under paragraph (1) or (2) shall comply with such written directive.

Upon receiving an application under rule 12, the Director-General may, for the purpose of satisfying himself that the applicant is sufficiently competent and, in all other respects, a fit and proper person to be entrusted to apply or otherwise use pesticides in the cultivation of plants safely, require the applicant —

The Director-General may require any applicant who does not possess the requisite qualification, training or practical experience in pesticide application to undergo such training as may be conducted by him prior to taking any test referred to in paragraph (1)(b).

Any applicant who does not successfully complete any test referred to in paragraph (1)(b) may apply to the Director-General for a re-test and the date of the re-test shall be decided by the Director-General.

Upon being satisfied that the applicant is sufficiently competent and in all other respects a fit and proper person to be entrusted to apply or otherwise use pesticides in the cultivation of plants safely and upon the payment of the appropriate fee specified in the First Schedule, the Director-General may issue a pesticide operator’s certificate to the applicant subject to such conditions as he may think fit to impose.

Every pesticide operator’s certificate shall be in such form as the Director-General may determine.

Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Director-General may refuse to issue a pesticide operator’s certificate without assigning any reason.

The Director-General may at any time add to, vary or revoke any of the conditions subject to which a pesticide operator’s certificate has been issued.

Every licensee shall ensure that any pesticide and waste material arising from the cultivation of plants on his farm is properly disposed of in accordance with —

Where any licensee or pesticide operator has disposed of any pesticide or pesticide container under rule 23(1)(fa), the licensee or pesticide operator, as the case may be, shall furnish to the Director-General, within a period of 7 days of the disposal, a letter from a chemical disposal company acknowledging the receipt and disposal of the pesticide.

No pesticide shall be applied or used in the cultivation of plants or kept or stored on any farm unless the pesticide is registered with the Director-General under the Control of Plants (Registration of Pesticides) Rules (R 3).

Every licensee shall ensure that the application or use of any pesticide in the cultivation of plants on his farm is carried out or supervised by a pesticide operator certified by the Director-General under rule 14(1) or (2).

It shall be the duty of every pesticide operator to ensure that —

Every pesticide operator shall, whenever required to do so by the Director-General or an authorised officer, as the case may be —