Amid the strengthening of pesticide regulations in consuming countries, recently the banning of the use of Chlorpyrifos and Chlorpyrifos-methyl for any agricultural product implemented by the European Union, India on 23 March 2020 introduced a Bill No. XXII of 2020 to regulate pesticides which include manufacture, import, packaging, labelling, pricing, storage, advertisement, sale, transport, distribution, use and disposal in order to ensure the availability of safe and effective pesticides and to strive to minims risk to human beings, animals, living organism other than pets and the environment as well as promoting endeavor to promote pesticides that are biological and based on traditional knowledge.
The Bill which might be called the Pesticide Management Act, 2020, would impose the Central Government to constitute a Board designated the Central Pesticide Board to carry out the function assigned to it by or under this Act within a period of six months of the commencement date of this Act. In addition to the Central Pesticide Board, a Registration Committee would also be constituted by the Central Government which functions are as follow:
a. Make ad decision regarding the application received for the registration of pesticide.
b. Specify conditions subject to which a certificate of registration is granted.
c. Periodically review the safety and efficacy of registered pesticides and amend or cancel certificates of registrations.
d. Review the registration of pesticides on behalf of which a reference is made or that are prohibited by the Central Government or the State Government under section 35.
e. Maintain a national register of pesticides.
f. Notify substances having pesticidal properties and
g. Such other function as ay be prescribed by the Central Government.
The complete copy of the Bill as published by The Gazette of India No. CG-DL-E24032020-218895 dated 23 March 2020, could be downloaded here.
