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Pesticides Act 1991

NIUE LAWS
LEGISLATION AS AT DECEMBER 2006

PESTICIDES ACT 1991

1991/158 – 1 October 1991

1 Short title
2 Interpretation
3 Power to declare substances to be pesticides
4 Pesticides Committee
5 Functions and powers of Committee
6 Exemptions
7 Importation of pesticides
8 Application for permit to import pesticide
9 Sale and distribution of pesticides
10 Application for permit to sell or distribute pesticide
11 Register of importers and sellers of pesticides
12 Customs not to release pesticides
13 Revocation and suspension of permits
14 Search and seizure
15 Offences and penalties
16 Regulations

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To regulate the importation and sale of pesticides

1 Short title

This is the Pesticides Act 1991.

2 Interpretation

In this Act –

"brand" means the trade name applied to a pesticide of any description by the manufacturer, importer, seller or distributor;

"Committee" means the Pesticides Committee established under section 4;

"container" includes anything in or by which pesticides may be cased,

covered, enclosed, contained or packed;

"Director" means the Director of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or such other person as (being an officer of the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries) to whom the functions of the Director under this Act may for the time being have been delegated by the Director;

"label" means any written, printed or graphic matter on, attached to, the pesticide or the container of it and the outside container of the retail package of the pesticide;

"Minister" means the Minister for the time being responsible for agriculture;

"permit to import" means a permit issued under section 8;

"permit to sell" means a permit issued under section 10;

"pest" means any form of plant or animal life or any pathogenic agent injurious or potentially injurious to plant or animal life and includes any public health pest, but does not include any such pest living on or in humans;

"pesticide" means –

(i) any substance or mixture of substances used for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors or human and animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm during or otherwise interfering with production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food agricultural commodities, wood and wood products or animal foodstuffs; or which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies; and

(ii) includes substances or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit and substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transport;

(iii) includes any substance or mixture of substances declared by Cabinet under section 3 to be a pesticide.

3 Power to declare substances to be pesticides

(1) Cabinet may on the recommendation of the Committee declare any substance or mixture of substances to be a pesticide for the purposes of this Act and in the like manner, may revoke such declaration.

(2) Any such declaration may relate to any substance or mixture specified by its common name or brand, or to any class of substances or mixture identified by a description of that class.

(3) Any such substance or mixture or class of substances or mixtures may be identified by reference to its toxicological action, its use, or its intended purpose.

4 Pesticides Committee

(1) For the purposes of this Act there shall be constituted a committee to be called the Pesticides Committee.

(2) The Committee shall consist of –

(a) The Director who shall be Chairman of the Committee;

(b) The Director of Health;

(c) One person appointed by and to hold office at the pleasure of Cabinet, who shall be a person who in the opinion of Cabinet, represents the interests of pesticide importers and sellers;

(d) One person appointed by and to hold office at the pleasure of Cabinet, who shall be a person who in the opinion of Cabinet, represents the interests of pesticide users.

(3) The Committee shall meet when required by the Minister or the Chairman but in any event not less than 4 times in every year.

(4) Subject to this Act the Committee may regulate its own procedure as it thinks fit, including the appointment of technical advisers and temporary members.

(5) The Chairman at any meeting of the Committee shall have a casting vote as well as a deliberative vote.

5 Functions and powers of the Committee

The Committee shall have all the functions and powers necessary for the administration of this Act, including the function and power to –

(a) Assess and evaluate every application made under this Act for the importation or sale of a pesticide;

(b) Determine in its discretion the conditions relating to the importation or sale of any pesticide;

(c) Suspend or revoke subject to this Act, any permit issued under this Act;

(d) Promote the efficient, prudent and safe use of pesticides by the public generally;

(e) Advise Cabinet and the Minister on pesticide-related matters.

6 Exemptions

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, Cabinet may, on the recommendation of the Committee, exempt any pesticide from one or more of the provisions of this Act and may in like manner revoke any such exemption.

7 Importation of pesticides

No person shall import into Niue any pesticide, except under the terms and conditions of a permit issued under section 8.

8 Application for permit to import pesticide
(1) Every application to import a pesticide shall be lodged with the Director in writing.

(2) Every application made under this section shall state full particulars of –

(a) The name and address of the applicant and the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor of the pesticide;

(b) The brand name and percentage by weight or volume of every active ingredient contained in the pesticide;

(c) The nature and formulation of the pesticide;

(d) The labelling which it is proposed to use on the pesticide container;

(e) The purpose for which the pesticide is normally used;

(f) The storage facilities available to the applicant for the keeping of the pesticide.

(3) On receipt of an application for importation of a pesticide, the Director shall refer the application to the Committee who shall –

(a) Approve the application either wholly or in part, and either with or without such conditions as the Committee thinks fit; or

(b) Defer the application until further relevant information required by the Committee is provided; or

(c) Decline the application.

(4) Without limiting the generality of the conditions which the Committee may impose under subsection (3)(a) the Committee may, when approving an application for the importation of a pesticide impose conditions relating to –

(a) The quantity of any pesticide which may be imported pursuant to the permit;

(b) The period of time for which the permit shall remain valid, being in any event not longer than 2 years;

(c) The methods to be used when handling the pesticide;

(d) The premises where the pesticide is to be stored, including the type and condition of those premises, the extent and type of security measures which will be taken, and whether any other type of goods will be stored in or about those same premises.

(5) Every permit issued under this section shall be in writing under the hand of the Director, and shall be in such form as the Committee may approve.

9 Sale and distribution of pesticides

No person shall sell or distribute in Niue, any pesticide to any other person, except under the terms and conditions of a permit issued under section 10.

10 Application for permit to sell or distribute pesticide

(1) Every application to sell or distribute a pesticide shall be lodged with the Director in writing.

(2) Every application made under this section shall state full particulars of –

(a) The name and address of the applicant;

(b) The brand name of the pesticide which the applicant proposes to sell;

(c) Whether or not the applicant is the importer of the pesticide, and if not, the person from whom the pesticide is to be obtained;

(d) The premises where the pesticide will be stored, including the type and condition of those premises, the extent and type of security measures which will be taken, and the storage of the pesticide in relation to the proximity of other types of goods;

(e) The label to be affixed to any container containing the pesticide;

(f) The purpose for which the pesticide is normally used.

(3) On receipt of an application to sell or distribute a pesticide, the Director shall refer the application to the Committee, who shall –

(a) Approve the application either wholly or in part, and either with or without such conditions as the Committee thinks fit; or

(b) Defer the application until further relevant information required by the Committee is provided; or

(c) Decline the application.

(4) Without limiting the generality of the conditions which the Committee may impose under subsection (3)(a), the Committee may, when approving an application to sell or distribute a pesticide impose conditions relating to –

(a) The period of time for which the permit shall remain valid, being in any event not longer than 2 years;

(b) The methods to be used when handling the pesticide;

(c) The premises where the pesticide is to be stored, including the type and condition of those premises, the extent and type of security measures which are to be taken and the storage of the pesticide in relation to the proximity of other types of goods;

(d) The label which is to be affixed on any container containing the pesticide.

(5) Every permit issued under this section shall be in writing under the hand of the Director, and shall be in such form as the Committee may approve.

11 Register of importers and sellers of pesticides

(1) The Director shall keep and maintain a register of all persons who have been issued with a permit to import or a permit to sell.

(2) The register required to be kept and maintained under subsection (1) shall include –

(a) The name and address of the permit-holder;

(b) The date on which the permit was issued by the Committee and the date of its expiry;

(c) The brand name of the pesticide approved under the permit;

(d) The purpose for which the pesticide is ordinarily used;

(e) Any conditions which the Committee may have imposed in respect of the permit;

(f) Such further particulars as the Committee may require to be kept.

12 Customs not to release pesticides

The Revenue Manager shall not release any pesticide to any person importing a pesticide unless the Revenue Manager is first satisfied that the importer of the pesticide is the holder of a current permit to import in respect of that pesticide.

13 Revocation and suspension of permits

Notwithstanding the period of time for which any permit may have been issued under section 8 or section 10, the Committee may, after giving the holder of the permit a reasonable opportunity to be heard in relation to the matter –

(a) Revoke any permit where the holder of the permit has been convicted of any offence under this Act; or

(b) Suspend any permit where a prosecution is pending in the Court against the holder of the permit and the Committee is satisfied that having regard to all the circumstances, the continued importation or selling (as the case may be) of any pesticide under that permit constitutes a danger to the health or safety of any person;

(c) Suspend or revoke any permit when facts not known to the Committee at the time the permit was issued subsequently come to the attention of the Committee, and the Committee is satisfied on the basis of such facts that the continued importation or sale (as the case may be) of that pesticide would give rise during normal use to an unacceptable hazard to any person, any animal, or to the environment.

14 Search and seizure

Where the Director has reasonable cause to suspect that an offence has been or is about to be committed against this Act or any regulations made under this Act, the Director or any person acting under the authority of the Director may, during usual business hours and in the presence of a constable, without warrant enter any premises and search them, and may –

(a) Seize or take samples of and remove any substance which the Director has reasonable cause to suspect is a pesticide;

(b) Seize or take samples of and remove any document, container, or other thing whatsoever which the Director has reasonable cause to believe may be required as evidence for the purpose of proceedings in respect of any such offence.

15 Offences and penalties

(1) Every person who –

(a) Imports a pesticide without first obtaining a permit under section 8, or

(b) Being the holder of a permit to import, imports a pesticide in contravention of any condition attaching to such permit; or

(c) Sells or distributes any pesticide without first obtaining a permit under section 10; or

(d) Being the holder of a permit to sell, sells or distributes any pesticide in contravention of any condition attaching to such permit; commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units for a first offence, and not exceeding 10 penalty units for a second or subsequent offence.

(2) Where any person is convicted of any offence under subsection (1), the Court may, in addition to the penalty prescribed under subsection (1), order that any pesticide in respect of which the offence has been committed shall be forfeited to the Crown, or disposed of in such other manner as the Court, after hearing submissions in relation to the matter, may direct.

16 Regulations

(1) Cabinet may make regulations for the purpose of carrying out this Act.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), Cabinet may make regulations prescribing –

(a) The form to be used for any application under section 8 or section 10 and the form of any permit which may be issued under those sections;

(b) The fees to be paid in respect of any application under section 8 or section 10 and for the issue of any permit under those sections;

(c) The terms and conditions subject to which any permit under section 8 or section 10 may be issued;

(d) Minimum standards to be observed by the holder of a permit to import or a permit to sell in relation to the storage or handling of any pesticide;

(e) Minimum standards to be observed by any user of any pesticide, whether or not such users hold a permit to import or a permit to sell under this Act;

(f) Offences for the non-observance or breach of any such regulations, and penalties not exceeding a fine of 2 penalty units.