Pesticides Control (Amendment) Act, 2002 (No. 2 of 2002)

No. 2 of 2002 I assent, (SIRCOLVILLEN. YOUNG) Governor-General 26 th February, 2002. AN ACT to amend the Pesticides Control Act, Chapter 216 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, to strengthen the operations of the Pesti~ides Control Board by replacing the position of Secretary of the Board with that of Registrar of the Board; to better classify pesticides for administrative purposes by introducing the concepts of"general use pesticides" and "restricted use pesticides"; to vary the composition of the Pesticides Control Board; to allow for the making of regulations providing for codes of practice for the safe handling of pesticides by users; and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. (Gazetted 1"4 March, 1002.) BE IT ENACTED, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives and the Senate of Belize and by the authority of the same, as follows: !. This Act may be cited as the PESTICIDES CONTROL (AMENDMENT} ACT, 2002. Short title. CAP. 216. Amendment or section 2. and shall be read and construed as one with the Pesticides Control Act, which is hereinafterreferred to as the principal Act. 2. Section 2 of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: (a) by repealing the definition of"pesticide" and by replacing it by the following: "'pesticide" means any substance intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest or anyvectorofhuman, animal or plant disease, and includes any substance intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant, agent for thinning fruit, or for preventing the premature fall of fruits, or a substance applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transportation, and any substance applied externally to animals for the control of ectoparasites;'; (b) by repealing the definitions of the expressions "registered pesticide" and "restricted pesticide" and replacing them by the following definitions in their proper alphabetical order: '"general use pesticide" means a pesticide registered as a pesticide and intended for use according to the label; "restricted use pesticide" means a pesticide which, if used in accordance with a widespread and commonly recognised practice, may generally cause, without additional regulatory action, unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, including the applicator and other people: Provided that the terms "registered pesticide" and "restricted pesticide" shall be construed to mean "general use pesticide" and "restricted use pesticide" respectively wherever they occur in this Act and in subsidiary legislation;'; (c) byaddingthefollowingdefinitionsintheirproper alphabetical order: ' "code of practice" means Regulations made by the Minister on the recommendations ofthe Board under section 15(1 )(s) containing requirements to be followed in a regulation to achieve safe pesticide use and handling; "producer association" means a formally established body representing the interests of producers in agriculture or animal production which is interested in or is affected by the control of pesticides, including the Beekeepers Industry, the Belize Livestock Producers Association, the Citrus Growers Association, the Grain Growers Association, the Banana Growers Association, the Cane Farmers Association and any other similar associations; "Registrar" means the employee of the Board responsible forregisters of pesticides under section 10 of the Act;'; (e) byrepealingthedefinitionoftheword"Secretary". 3. Section 4 of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: ( a) by adding a new paragraph (i) in subsection (I) of this section immediately after paragraph (h) as follows: Amendment of section 4. "(i) to train, or to arrange for the training of, persons in the safe use of pesticides."; (b) by adding the following new subsection inunediately after subsection (2) of this section: "(3) The Board may establish committees to assist it in the performance of its functions and the exercise ofits powers, and may abolish any such committees. ( 4) A committee established by the Board under this section may be constituted wholly by members of the Board, or partly by members of the Board and partly by other persons, including technical experts in any area under consideration by such conunittee. ( 5) The Board may from time to time, in writing, determine: (a) the manner in which a committee is to perform its functions; (b) the terms ofreference ofa committee when considering any matter; (c) the procedure to be followed at or in relation to meetings of the conunittee, including matters relating to: (i) theconveningofmeetingsofthe committee, and (ii) thenumberofmembersofthe conunittee who are to constitute a quorum at any meeting of the committee; and (d) the selection of a member of the committee to preside at meetings of the committee; and ( e) the manner in which questions arising at a meeting of the committee are to be decided.". 4. Section 9 of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing the proviso to this section. 5. Section I b of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: (a) by repealing the word "Secretary" wherever occurring therein and by replacing it by the word "Registrar"; (b) by repealing subsection (2) and by replacing it by the following: " (2) Theregisterskeptpursuantto subsection (1) shall be open to inspection by any member of the public at all reasonable times and a copy of each register shall be published in the Gazette at such times as may be prescribed, except that the yearly publication of the Second, Third and Fourth Schedules to this Act shall be sufficient publication ofthe Register of Pesticides.". 6. Section 11 of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing the word "Secretary" occurring therein and by replacing it by the word "Registrar". 7. Section 12 of the principal Actis hereby amended by repealing the word "Secretary" wherever occurring therein and by replacing it by the word "Registrar". Amendment of section 9. Amendment of section 10. Seco,nd, Third and Fourth Schedules. Amendment of section 11. Amendment of section 12. A•e•••e■t •f-■ 15. Amendment of section 19. Amendment of First Schedule. 8. Section 15 of the principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (I) by adding a new paragraph (s) immediately after paragraph (r) as follows: "(s) for regulating the adoption of codes of practice for safe pesticide use and handling.". 9. Section 19 of the principal Act is hereby amended in subsection ( 1) by repealing the words "one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months orto both such fine and imprisonment" occurring therein and by replacing them by the words "five thousand dollars orto imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both such fine and imprisonment". 10. The First Schedule to the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: (a) byrepealingparagraph 1 thereofandbyreplacing it by the following: "! .(I) The Board shall consist of not more than fourteen members appointed by the Minister, of whom: ( a) four shall be persons nominated by producer associations, there not being more than one member for any one producer association; (b) one shall be an officer of the Ministry responsible for Agriculture; (c) one shall be an officer of the official body responsible for plant and animal health, nominated by the Managing Directorofthat body; (d) one shall be an officer nominated by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry responsible for Health; (e) one shall be an officer nominated by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry responsible for the Environment; (f) six shall be. members appointed by the Minister in his discretion from persons with knowledge of agriculture or the field of pesticides. (2) The Minister shall consider rotating appointments under subparagraph (I)( a) above among the different producer associations in the interests of effec.tiveness and fairness. (3) In appointing the members of the Board, the Minister shall consult with any organisation interested in or affected by the control of pesticides. ( 4) Members of the Board shall officially appoint alternates for attendance of meetings on their behalf, when necessary, in the case of the inability of such members to attend meetings. ( 5) In the case of persons appointed to the Board, other than officers appointed under subparagraph (I )(b), (c) (d) and (e), ifamemberorhis alternate fails to attend three consecutive meetings without good cause, he shall vacate his position on the Board and the Minister shall consider an appointment from another organisation."; (b) by repealing paragraph 6 thereof and by replacing it by the following: "6. The Registrar shall be appointed by the Board, subject to approval by the Minister".