The system of regulation of insecticides in India is obsolete and inefficient. Suggest measures to revamp Insecticides Act, 1968.
Refer - The Hindu
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
Loopholes in Insecticides act 1968
· Lack of clarity on qualification for manufactures, sellers, stockists and commercial pest-control operators.
· Lack of larger representation of experts in the Central Insecticides Board and the Registration Committee.
· Lack in fixing tolerance limits of pesticides as a pre-condition of their registration.
· Covers insecticides which are defined as any substance included in the Schedule to the Act.
· Power to cancel the registration of an insecticide lies with the central government.
Solutions
· Define pesticides as any substance of chemical or biological origin used to control the spread of pests in agricultural commodities or animal feed.
· Central Pesticides Board should be formed with larger representation in order to advise on use and disposal of pesticides as envisaged under the Pesticides management bill proposed in 2008.
· Establish a Registration committee and delegate it, the power to register pesticides and cancel registration in case of violations of the Act or due to adverse impact on crops, humans or animals.
· Specifying tolerance limits as a pre-condition for registration.
· Aligning the new pesticides regulatory framework with food safety laws.
· Define misbranded, sub-standard and spurious pesticides and prescribe a set of penalties for the manufacture or distribution of such pesticides.
