The Hindu : Draft bill on spurious pesticides finalised

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 21, 2003

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Draft bill on spurious pesticides finalised

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 20. The Union Agriculture Minister, Ajit Singh, said here today that a Bill to more effectively curb the increasing problem of spurious pesticides was likely to be introduced in Parliament in the monsoon session.

A draft of the Bill, which would be in the form of an amendment to the Insecticides Act, has already been finalised by the Ministry and is now under the consideration of other relevant Ministries.

The new legislation, among other things, makes it mandatory for pesticide dealers to appoint specially qualified staff to ensure that only quality pesticides were sold.

The provision would be on the lines of the condition that was imposed on retail chemists to employ pharmacy graduates to ensure that only genuine drugs were dispensed.

The Bill envisages upgradation of State pesticides testing labs and setting up of a national laboratory for the final testing of every new molecule introduced in the market.

The Minister was speaking at a function to mark the re-launching of the Indian Crop Protection Association as the Indian arm of the Crop Life International, the Brussels-based global federation of crop science industry.

Responding to a plea of the Chairman of the new entity, Crop Life India, Pradip K. Mazumdar, for a stronger patent regime in the context of the introduction of product patents from January 1, 2005, Mr. Singh said the Government would soon take a re-look at the patent legislation in the country and the suggestions of all stakeholders would be given due consideration.

Later, speaking to reporters, he dismissed suggestions to make the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) a statutory body, saying "it is the Minister and not CACP, which is answerable to Parliament.''

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