LEGISLATION
Overview:
This Law consists of 6 Chapters divided into 28 articles: Plant protection (I); Seeds and plant reproduction (II); Pesticides (III); International agricultural quarantine (IV); Internal agricultural quarantine (V); General provisions (VI). Terms and definitions are given in article 1. The Plant Protection Department shall carry out the following activities: studies to define and classify diseases, epidemics and their geographic distribution; research and experiments for fighting plant epidemics and diseases; sanitary control on plants; campaigns to fight diseases and epidemics; and guide farmers to protect their farms and plants (art. 2). Officers of the Department shall inspect farms, fields, forests, nurseries and gardens (art. 3). It is prohibited to produce, distribute, trade in seeds, plants, and pesticides unless upon a previous licence issued by the Department (arts. 5 and 7). The Department may set out requirements and conditions for all pesticides (art. 8). All importers and exporters of plants shall obtain a writing permit from the Department. Plants and plant products shall have a sanitary certificate issued by the competent Authority of the country of origin. The Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources shall define the requirements and crossing points for plant and plant products (arts. 10-20). Offences and penalties are contained in article 23. The provisions of this Law shall not be valid for locust fighting (art. 25).


