Control of Pesticides (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Control of Pesticides (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 and shall come into operation on 9th December 1997.

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Amendment of the Control of Pesticides Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987

2.  The Control of Pesticides Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(2) shall be amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 9.

3.  In regulation 2 (Interpretation) for paragraph (1) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(1) In these Regulations—

“active ingredient” means a component of pesticide which fits it for use as a pesticide;

“aerial application” means the application of a pesticide from an aircraft in flight;

“approval” means an approval given by the Department under regulation 5 in relation to a pesticide;

“the Department” means the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland;

“full approval” has the meaning assigned to it in regulation 5(2)(c);

“ground water” means any waters contained in underground strata;

“organism” means any animal, plant, fungus or micro-organism capable of carrying on life processes;

“provisional approval” has the meaning assigned to it in regulation 5(2)(b);

“sell” includes offer or expose for sale or have in possession for the purpose of sale;

“substance” means any chemical element or compound which occurs naturally or by manufacture and includes any impurity which results from the manufacturing process;

“supply” includes offer to supply;

“surface water” means estuarial and coastal waters and any lake, lough, pond, reservoir, river, stream or watercourse including the bottom, channel or bed of any lake, lough, pond, reservoir, river, stream or, as the case may be, watercourse which is for the time being dry.”.

4.  For regulation 3 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Scope

3.— (1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, these Regulations apply to—

(a) any pesticide; or

(b) any substance, preparation or organism prepared or used for any of the following purposes—

(i) protecting plants or wood or other plant products from harmful organisms;

(ii) regulating the growth of plants;

(iii) giving protection against harmful creatures;

(iv) rendering such creatures harmless;

(v) controlling organisms with harmful or unwanted effects on water systems (including sewage treatment works), buildings or other structures, or on manufactured products;

(vi) protecting animals against ectoparasites;

as if it were a pesticide.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to—

(a) organisms, other than bacteria, protozoa, fungi, viruses and mycoplasmas, used for destroying or controlling pests;

(b) substances, preparations or organisms whose use or sale within Northern Ireland is controlled under any of the following enactments—

(i) the Medicines Act 1968(3);

(ii) Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970(4);

(iii) the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(5);

(iv) the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 1984(6);

(v) the Water Quality Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(7);

when those substances, preparations or organisms are used or sold for the purpose over which control under that enactment is exercised;

(c) substances, preparations or organisms controlled by the Marketing Authorisations for Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulations 1994(8);

(d) any plant protection product the placing on the market and use of which are subject to the prohibitions specified in regulation 3(1) and (2) of the Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995(9) or which is approved under regulation 9 of those Regulations(10);

(e) substances, preparations or organisms prepared or used for the purpose of disinfecting, bleaching or sterilising any substance (including water), other than soils, compost or other growing medium;

(f) substances, preparations or organisms used in laboratories for the purpose of the micropropagation of plants or substances, preparations or organisms used in the production of novel food;

(g) substances, preparations or organisms designed and used for—

(i) the stimulation of the growth of plants, excluding materials which act as plant growth hormones, or which mimic the action of such materials;

(ii) the modification of micro-biological processes in soil, excluding soil sterilants;

(iii) assistance in the anaerobic fermentation of silage;

(h) substances, preparations or organisms designed and used for destroying or controlling pests by purely physical means;

(i) pesticides—

(i) used in adhesive pastes, decorative paper or textiles;

(ii) intended solely for exportation from the United Kingdom;

(iii) applied externally or by impregnation as part of a manufacturing process, other than—

(aa) in the preservation of timber or timber products, the production of food or the treatment of seed, compost or any other growing medium; or

(bb) for the purpose of preventing the fouling of the hulls of vessels or structures below the waterline; or

(cc) for the treatment of nets, floats or other apparatus to be used in the cultivation of fish;

(iv) used in preparations intended for topical application to human beings for the purpose of repelling insects;

(v) used in metal working fluids;

(vi) used in paint for the sole purpose of preserving the paint;

(vii) used in water-based cooling or heating systems, humidifying systems or swimming pools.

(3) In this regulation—

“disinfecting” means destroying micro-organisms other than bacterial spores;

“metal working fluid” means any fluid used to facilitate the cutting, drilling, forming or machining of metal;

“micropropagation” means the growth of plantlets from tissue culture or small parts of a plant in culture solution and under conditions which are sterile apart from the presence of the plant;

“mycoplasma” means a genus of organisms which have a unit membrane without a rigid cell wall and are highly pleomorphic, having no independent form or spore stage in the life cycle;

“novel food” has the same meaning as in Article 2(2) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991;

“paint” includes surface coatings;

“placing on the market” and “plant protection product” have the same respective meanings as in the Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995;

“preparation” means a mixture or solution composed of two or more substances;

“soil sterilant” means a product used for sterilising soil or compost;

“sterilising” means destroying all micro-organisms including any bacterial spores.”.

5.  In regulation 5 (Approvals) for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(2) The Department’s approval may be given in relation to a pesticide, in the form of—

(a) an experimental permit, to enable testing and development to be carried out with a view to providing the Department with safety and other data;

(b) a provisional approval, for a stipulated period; or

(c) a full approval, for an unstipulated period.”.

6.  For regulation 6 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Consents

6.   The Department may give its consent to—

(a) the advertisement of pesticides, subject to the conditions specified in Schedule 1;

(b) the sale, supply and storage of pesticides, subject to the conditions specified in Schedule 2;

(c) the use of pesticides, subject to—

(i) the conditions specified in Schedule 3; and

(ii) in the case of the use of pesticides by aerial application, the conditions specified in Schedule 4,

and where it has given a consent under this regulation the Department shall publish, in such manner as it considers appropriate, a notice specifying the fact.”.

7.  For regulation 7 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Seizure or disposal of pesticides

7.   Where there has been a breach, in relation to any pesticide, of any of the specified prohibitions imposed by regulation 4, any condition of an approval given under regulation 5 or any condition of a consent given under regulation 6, any Northern Ireland Department shall have the power—

(a) to seize or dispose of the pesticide or require the holder of the approval, or any other person appearing to that Department to be the owner or the person in charge of that pesticide, to dispose of it;

(b) to seize or dispose of anything treated with the pesticide or require any person appearing to that Department to be the owner or the person in charge of anything so treated to dispose of it;

(c) to require the holder of the approval, or any other person appearing to that Department to be the owner or the person in charge of that pesticide to take such remedial action as appears to that Department to be necessary as a result of the contravention including, where it appears to be necessary as a result of the contravention, recovery of the pesticide from the market in Northern Ireland.”.

8.  For regulation 8 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Release of information to the public

8.— (1) The Department may, at the request of any person, at such reasonable time and place as it may determine, make any evaluation held by it available to that person for inspection.

(2) The Department may, at the request of any person, supply that person with a copy of any evaluation held by it on payment of such fee (which may not exceed the cost reasonably attributable to the supply) as the Department, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel, may determine.

(3) The Department may, at the request of any person to whom an evaluation has been made available for inspection under paragraph (1) or to whom a copy of an evaluation has been supplied under paragraph (2), at such reasonable time and place as it may determine, make available for inspection by that person any study reports held by it to which the evaluation relates.

(4) A person to whom any information or document has been made available for inspection under paragraph (1) or (3), or to whom a copy of any information or document has been furnished under paragraph (2), shall not make any commercial use of it nor, unless authorised in writing by the Department to do so, publish any part of it.

(5) In this regulation—

“commercial use”, in relation to any information or document, includes the use of that information or document in any manner whatsoever in connection with the manufacture, distribution, importation, advertisement, sale, supply, storage, use or export of any pesticide but does not include the use of that information or document for the purpose of books, journals or other publications with the written authorisation of the Department;

“evaluation” means a written evaluation of study reports or other data examined in the course of an appraisal of the active ingredient of a pesticide leading to the giving of a full approval or provisional approval, the amendment of any conditions imposed in relation to any such approval, or the revocation of any such approval, in relation to that pesticide;

“study reports” means study reports and any other data relating to an application for a full approval or provisional approval or the continuance of any such approval including the amendment of the conditions imposed in relation to any such approval.

(6) This regulation is without prejudice to the provisions of the Environmental Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993(11) and Article 14 of Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market(12).”.

9.  For Schedules 1, 2, 3 and 4 there shall be substituted the Schedules which are set out in the Schedule.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland on

L.S.

Liam McKibben

Assistant Secretary

28th October 1997.