The government is considering replacing Agriculture Pesticide Ordinance, 1971 with a new law to control ever increasing adulteration and lowering of standards. Sources in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) said that the new law would be finalised in consultation with all the stakeholders, including pesticides producers and farmers by September this year.
The draft of the new law once finalised, the sources said, would be introduced in the National Assembly for consideration possibly in October.
They said according to the proposals under consideration the ministry would transfer most of its powers of checking the quality and formulation standards of pesticides to either provincial or district governments.
Additionally, the punishments and fines for formulating substandard pesticides would also be enhanced in a bid to have better control over adulteration, the sources added.
According to the new proposed laws, the inspectors of the provincial governments would be authorised to examine the premises of pesticide formulation unit to check whether the quality standards were met, the sources said.
Likewise, formulation companies would have to inform the authorities concerned about their nominated dealers for the sale of their produce in the market.
These dealers would be responsible to produce record of their dealership and sale of certain products to the authorities in case of complaints against them, the sources added.
The government, they said, would also increase the number of agricultural laboratories for pesticide testing across the country and enhance their standards.
The government considered the enactment of new law to replace Agriculture Pesticide Ordinance, 1971 after it received a number of complaints about adulteration in the important agri input from the nooks and corners of the country, they added.
In Pakistan, the raw material for the formulation - making a pesticide by combining its ingredients in a defined proportion - is imported from many countries.
Over the years, it has been a general complaint on part of the farmers that local formulators of pesticides do not take care of internationally set standards and formulae.
The government, the sources said, was also considering amending three other laws - Fertiliser Law, Plant Breeders Rights Act and Land Act - to make them more effective.
Comments
Comments are closed.