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INSECTICIDES ACT, 1968
46 of 1968
2nd September, 1968
An Act to regulate the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of insecticides with a view to prevent risk to human beings or animals, and for matters connected therewith Be it enacted by Parliament in the Nineteenth Year of the Republic of India as follows:
SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT
(1) This Act may be called the Insecticides Act, 1968.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3)'lt shall come into force on such date1as the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different States2.
SECTION 02: APPLICATION OF OTHER LAWS NOT BARRED
The provisions of this Act shall be in addi- tion to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force.
SECTION 03: DEFINITIONS
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "animals" means animals useful to human beings and includes fish and fowl, and such kinds of wild life as the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, specify, being kinds which in its opinion, it is desirable to protect or preserve;
(b) ' Board" means the Central Insecticides Board constituted under Sec. 4;
(c) "Central Insecticides Laboratory" means the Central Insecticides Laboratory established, or as the case may be, the institution specified under Sec. 16;
(d) "import" means bringing into any place within the territories to which this Act extends from a place outside those territories;
(e) "insecticide" means-
(i) any substance specified in the schedule; or
(ii) such other substances (including fungicides and (weedicides) as the Central Government may, after consultation with the Board, by notification in the official Gazette, include in the schedule from time to time; or
(iii) any preparation containing any one or more of such substances;
(f) "Insecticide Analyst" means an insecticide analyst appointed underSec. 19-;
(g) "Insecticide Inspector means an insecticide Inspector appointed underSee. 20-;
(h) "label" means any written, printed or graphic matter on the immediate package and on every other covering in which the package is placed or packed and includes any written, printed or graphic matter accompanying the insecticide;
(i) "Licensing Officer" means a licensing officer appointed underSec. 12-;
(j) "manufacture", in relation to any insecticide, includes-
(i) any process or part of a process for making, altering, finishing, packing, labelling, breaking up or otherwise treating or adopting any insecti- cide with a view to Its sale, distribution or use but does not include the packing or breaking up of any insecticide in the ordinary course of retail business; and
(ii) any process by which preparation containing an insecticide is formulated,
(k) "misbranded"- an insecticide shall be deemed to be misbranded-
(i) if its label contains any statement, design or graphic representation relating thereto which is false or misleading in any material particular, or if its package is otherwise deceptive in respect of its contains; or
(ii) if it is an imitation of, or is also under the name of, another insecticide; or
(iii) if its label does not contain a warning or caution which may be necessary and sufficient, if complied with to prevent risk to human beings or animals; or
(iv) if any word, statement or other information required by or under this Act to appear on the label is not displayed thereon in such conspicuous manner as the other words, statements designs or graphic matter have been displayed on the label and in such terms as to render it likely to be read and understood by any ordinary individual under customary conditions of pur- chase and use; or
(v) if it is not packed or labelled as required by or under this Act; or
(vi) if it is not registered in the manner required by or under this Act; or
(vii) if the label contains any reference to registration other than the registration number; or
(viii) if the insecticide has a toxicity which is higher than the level prescribed or is mixed or packed with any substance so as to alter its nature of quality or contains any substance which not included in the registration;
(l) "package" means a box, bottle, gasket, tin, barrel, case, receptacle, sack, bag, wrapper, or other thing in which an insecticide is placed or packed;
(m) "premises" means any land, shop, stall or place where any insecticide is sold or manufactured or stored or used, and includes any vehicle carrying insecticides;
(n) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(o) "registered", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means registered under this Act;
(p) "sale", with its grammatical variations and cognate expression, means the sale of any insecticide whether for cash or on credit and whether by wholesale or retail, and includes an agreement for sale, an offer for sale, the exposing for sale or having in possession for sale of any insecticide and includes also an attempt to sell any such insecticide;
(q) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the administrator thereof;
(r) "worker" means a person employed under a contract of service or apprentice- ship.
SECTION 04: CENTRAL INSECTICIDES BOARD
(1) The Central Government shall, as soon as may be, constitute a Board to be called the Central Insecticides Board to advise the Central Government and State Governments on technical matters arising out of administration of this Act and to carry out the other functions assigned to the Board by or under this Act.
(2) The matters on which the Board may advise under sub-section (1) shall indude matter relating to-
(a) the risk to human being or animals involved in the use of insecticides and the safety measures necessary to prevent such risk;
(b) the manufacture, sale, storage, transport and distribution of insecticides with a view to ensure safety to human beings or animals.
(3) The Board shall consist of the following members, namely :
(i) The Director-General of Health Services, ex afficio, who shall be Chairman;
(ii) The Drugs Controller, India, ex officio;
(iii) the Plant Protection Adviser to the Government of India, ex officio,
(iv) the Director of Storage and Inspection, Ministry of Food, Agricul- ture, Community Development and Co- operation (Department of Food) ex officio;
(v) the Chief Adviser of Factories, ex officio;
(vi) the Director, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, ex officio
(vii) the Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ex officio;
(viii) the Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, ex officio; (ix) the Director, Zoological Survey of India, ex officio; (x) the Director-General, Indian Standards Institution, ex officio;
(xi) the Director-General of Shipping or, in his absence, the Deputy Director-General of Shipping, Ministry of Transport and Shipping ex officio;
(xii) the joint Director, Traffic (General), Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), ex officio;
(xiii) the Secretary, Central Committee for Food Standards, ex officio;
a[(xiii-) the Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Department of Agricul- ture, ex officio;
(xiii-b) the Joint Commissioner (Fisheries), Department of Agriculture, ex officio;
(xiii-c) the Deputy Inspector-General of Forests (Wild Life), Department of Agriculture ex officio;
(xiii-d) the Industrial Adviser (Chemicals), Directorate-General of Tech- nical Development, ex officio;]
(xiv) one person to represent the Ministry of Petroleum and Chemicals, to be nominated by the Central Government;
(xv) one pharmacologist to be nominated by the Central Government;
(xvi) one medical toxicologist to be nominated by the Central Govern- ment;
(xvii) one person who shall be in charge of the department dealing with public health in a State, to be nominated by the Central Government;
(xviii) two persons who shall be Directors of Agriculture in States, to be nominated by the Central Government;
(xix) four persons, one of whom shall be an export in industrial health and occupational hazards, to be nominated by the Central Government;
(xx) one person to represent the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, to be nominated by the Central Government;
4[(xxi) one ecologist to be nominated by the Central Government.)
(4) The persons nominated under Cls. (xvi) to5[(xxi)] inclusive, of sub-section (3) shall, unless their seats become vacant earlier by registration, death or otherwise, hold office for three years from the date of their nomination but shall be eligible for re-nomination: Provided that the persons nominated under Cls. (xvi) and (xvii) shall hold office only for so long as they hold the appointments by virtue of which their nominations were made.
6[(5) No act or proceeding of the Board, the Registration Committee or any committee appointed underSec. 6-, shall be called in question on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of the Board, the Registration Committee or such committee, as the case may be.]
SECTION 05: REGISTRATION COMMITTEE
(1) The Central Government shall constitute a Registra- tion Committee consisting of a Chairman, and not more than five persons who shall be members of the Board (including the Drugs Controller, India and the Plant Protection Adviser to the Government of India)-
(i) to register insecticides after scrutinising their formulae and verifying
claims made by the importer or the manufacturer, as the case may be, as regards their efficacy and safety to human beings and animals; and
(ii) to perform such other functions as are assigned to it by or under this Act.
(2) Where the Chairman is not a member of the Board, his term of office and other conditions of service shall be such as may be determined by the Central Government.
(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), a member of the Registration Committee shall hold office for so long as he is a member of the Board.
(4) The Committee may also co-opt such number of experts and for such propose or period as it may deem it, but any expert so co-opted shall have no right to vote.
(5) Registration Committee shall regulate its own procedure and the conduct of the business to be transacted by it.
SECTION 06: OTHER COMMITTEE
-The Board may appoint such committees as it deems fit and may appoint to them, persons who are not members of the Board to exercise such powers and perform such duties as may, subject to such conditions, if any, as the Board may impose, be delegated to them by the Board.
SECTION 07: PROCEDURE FOR BOARD
-The Board may, subject to the previous approval of the Central Government, make bye-laws for the purpose of regulation of its own procedure and the procedure of any committee thereof and the conduct of all business to be transacted by it or such committee.
SECTION 08: SECRETARY AND OTHER OFFICERS
-The Central Government shall-
(i) appoint a person to be the Secretary of the Board who shall also function as Secretary to the Registration committee; and
(ii) provide the Board and the Registration Committee with such technical and other staff as the Central Government considers necessary.
SECTION 09: REGISTRATION OF INSECTICIDES
- (1) Any person desiring to import or manufacture any insecticide may apply to the Registration Committee for the registration of such insecti- cide and there shall be separate application for each such insecticide: Provided that any person engaged in the business of import or manufacture of any insecticide immediately before the commencement of this section shall make an application to the Registration Committee within a period of7[seventeen months] from the date of such commencement for the registration of any insecticide which he has been importing or manufacturing before that date:8[Provided further that where any person referred to in the preceding proviso fails to make an application under that proviso within the period specified therein, he may make such application at any time thereafter on payment of a penalty of one hundred rupees for every month or part thereof after the expiry of such period for the registration of each such insecticide.]
(2) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be made in such form and contain such particulars as may be prescribed.
(3) On receipt of any such application for the registration of an insecticide, the Com- mittee may, after such enquiry as it deems fit and after satisfying itself that the insecticide to which the application relates conforms to the claims made by the importer or by the manufacturer, as the case may be, as regards the efficacy of the insecticide and its safety to human beings and animals, register3 [on such conditions as may be specified by it] and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, the insecticide, allot a registration number thereto and issue a certificate of registration in token thereof within a period of twelve months from the date of receipt of the application: Provided that the Committee may, if it is unable within the said period to arrive at a decision on the basis of the materials placed before it, extend the period by a further period of not exceeding six months; Provided further that if the Committee is of opinion that the precautions claimed by the applicant as being sufficient to ensure safety to human beings or animals are not such as can be easily observed or that notwithstanding the observance of such precautions the use of the insecticide involves serious risk to human beings or animals it may refuse to register the insecticide.
10[(3-A) In the case of applications received by it prior to the 31st day of March, 1975, notwithstanding the expiry of the period specified in subsection (3) for disposal of such applications, it shall be lawful and shall be deemed always to have been lawful for the Registration Committee to dispose of such applications at any time after sush expiry but within a period of one year form the commencement of the Insecticides (Amendment) Act, 1977 (24 of 1977): Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall be deemed to make any contravention before the commencement of the Insecticides (Amendment) Act, 1977 (24 of 1977), of a condition of a certificate of registration granted before such commencement, an offence punishable under this Act.
(3-B) Where the Registration Committee is of opinion that the insecticide is being introduced for the first time in India, it may, pending nay enquiry, register it provisionally for a period of two years on such conditions as may be specified by it.
(3-C) The Registration Committee may, having regard to the efficacy of the insecticide and its safety to human beings and animals, vary the conditions subject to which a certificate or registration has been granted and may for that purpose require the certificate-holder by notice in. writing to deliver up the certificate to it within such time as may be specified in the notice.]
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, where an insecticide has been registered on the application of any person, any other person desiring to import or manufac- ture the insecticide or engaged in the business of, import or manufacture thereof shall on application and on payment of prescribed fee be allotted a registration number and granted a certificate of registration in respect thereof on the same conditions on which the insecticide was originally registered.
SECTION 10: APPEAL AGAINST NON-REGISTRATION OR CANCELLATION
-Any person aggrieved by a re- cession of the Registration Committee underSec. 9-may, within a period of thirty days from the date on which the decision is communicated to him appeal in the prescribed manner and on payment of the prescribed fee to the Central Government whose decision thereon shall be final: Provided that the Central Government may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
SECTION 11: POWER OF REVISION OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
-The Central Government may, at any time, call for the record relating to any case in which the Registration Committee has given a decision underSec. 9-for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the legality or propriety of any such decision and may pass any such order in relation thereto as it thinks fit : Provided that no such order shall be passed after the expiry of one year from the date of the decision: Provided further that the Central Government shall not pass any order prejudicial to any person unless that person has had a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed order.
SECTION 12: LICENSING OFFICERS
-The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint such persons as it thinks fit to be licensing officers for the purposes of this Act and define the areas in respect of which they shall exercise jurisdiction.
SECTION 13: GRANT OF LICENCE
- (1) Any person desiring to manufacture or to sell, stock or exhibit for sale or distribute any insecticide,11[or to undertake commercial pest control operations with the use of any insecticide) may make an application to the licensing officer for the grant of a licence : Provided that any person engaged in the business of manufacturing or selling, stocking or exhibiting for sale or distributing any insecticide immediately before the commencement of this section shall make an application to the licensing officer for the grant of a licence within a period of12[seventeen months] from the date of such commencement:
13[Provided further that any person engaged in the commercial pest control operations immediately before the commencement of the Insecticides (Amendment) Act, 1977 (24 of 1977), shall make an applicaticn to the licensing officer for the grant of a licence within a period of six months from the commencement of the said Act.]
(2) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be made in such form and shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed.
(3) On receipt of any such application for the grant of a licence, the licensing officer may grant a licence in such form, on such conditions and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.
(4) A licence granted under this section shall be valid for the period specified therein and may be renewed from time to time for such period and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed: Provided that where a licence has been granted to any person who has made an application under3[the first proviso or, as the case may be the second proviso] to subsection (1), that licence shall be deemed to be cancelled in relation to any insecticide the application for registration whereof has been refused or the registration whereof has been cancelled, under this Act, with effect from the date on which such refusal or cancellation is notified in official Gazette.
5[(5) In prescribed fees for the grant or renewal of licences under this section, different fees may be prescribed for the sale or distribution of insecticides for purposes of domestic use and for other purposes.]
SECTION 14: REVOCATION, SUSPENSION AND AMENDMENT OF LICENCES
- (1) If the licensing officer is satisfied, either on a reference made to him in this behalf or otherwise,that--
(a) the licence granted underSec. 13-has been granted because of misrepresenta- tion as to an essential fact; or
(b) the holder of a licence has failed to comply with the conditions subject to which the licence was granted or has contravened any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, then, without prejudice to any other penally to which the holder of the licence may be liable under this Act, the
licensing officer may, after giving the holder of the licence an opportunity of showing cause, revoke or suspend the licence.
(2).Subject to any rules that maybe made in this behalf, the licensing officer may alsc vary or amend a licence granted underSec.
SECTION 15: APPEAL AGAINST THE DECISION OF A LICENSING OFFICER
- (1) Any person aggrieved b) a decision of licensing officer underSec. 13-[except under the proviso to sub-section (4)] orSec. 14-may, within a period of thirty days from the date on which the decision is communi- cated to him, appeal to such authority in such manner and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed:Provided that the appellate authority may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause for filing the appeal in time.
(2) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the appellate authority shall, after giving the appellant an opportunity of showing cause, dispose of the appeal ordinarily within a period of six months and the decision of the appellant authority shall be final.
SECTION 16: CENTRAL INSECTICIDES LABORATORY
-The Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, establish a Central Insecticides Laboratory under the control of Director to be appointed by the Central Government to carry out the functions entrusted to it by or under this Act: Provided that if the Central Government so directs by a notification in the official Gazette, the functions of the Central Insecticides Laboratory shall, to such extent as may be specified in the notification, be carried out at any such institution as may be specified therein and thereupon the functions of the Director of the Central Insecticides Laboratory shall to the extent so specified, be exercised by the head of the institution.
SECTION 17: PROHIBITION OF IMPORT AND MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN INSECTICIDES
- (1) No person shall, himself or by any person on his behalf, import or manufacture-
(a) any misbranded insecticide;
(b) any insecticide the sale, distribution or use of which is for the time being prohibited underSec. 27-;
(c) any insecticide except in accordance with the conditions on which it was registered;
(d) any insecticide in contravention of any other provision of this Act or of any rule made thereunder;
Provided that any person who has applied for registration of an insecticide15 [under any of the provisos] to sub-section (1) of Sec. 9-may continue to import or manufacture any such insecticide any such insecticide shall not be deemed to be a misbranded insecticide within the meaning of sub-section (vi) or subclause (vii) or sub-clause (viii) of Cl. (k) of Sec. 3-, until he has been informed by the Registration Committee of its decision to refuse to register the said insecticide.
(2) No person shall, himself or by any person on his behalf; manufacture any insecticide except under, and in accordance with the conditions of, a licence issued for such purpose under this Act.
SECTION 18: PROHIBITION OF SALE, ETC. OF CERTAIN INSECTICIDES
- (l)No person shall, himself or by any person on his behalf, sell, stock or exhibit for sale, distribute16[transport, use, or cause to be used] by any worker-
(a) any insecticide which is not registered under this Act;
(b) any insecticide, the sale, distribution or use of which is for the time being prohibited underSec. 27-;
(c) any insecticide in contravention of any other provision of this Act or of any rule made thereunder.
(2) No person shall, himself or by any person on his behalf, sell, stock or exhibit for sale or distribute17[or use for commercial pest control operations] any insecticide except under, and in accordance with the conditions of, a licence issued for such purpose under this Act.
SECTION 19: INSECTICIDE ANALYSTS
-The Central Government or a State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint persons in such number as it thinks fit and possessing such technical and other qualifications as may be prescribed to be Insecticide Analysts for such areas and in respect of such insecticides or class of insecticides as may be specified in the notification: Provided that no person who has any financial interest in the manufacture, import or sale of any insecticide, shall be so appointed.
SECTION 20: INSECTICIDE INSPECTORS
(1) The Central Government or a State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint persons in such number as it thinks fit and possessing such technical and other qualifications as may be prescribed to be Insecticide Inspectors for such areas as may be specified in the notification: Provided that any person who does not possess the required qualification may be so appointed only for the purposes of Cls. (a) and (d) of sub-section (1) of Sec. 21-; Provided further that no person who has any financial interest in the manufacture, import or sale of any insecticide shall be so appointed.
(2) Every Insecticide Inspector shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of Sec. 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), and shall be officially subordinate to such authority as the Government appointing him may specify in this behalf.
SECTION 21: POWERS OF INSECTICIDE INSPECTORS
(1) An Insecticide Inspector shall have power-
(a) to enter and search, at all reasonable times and with such assistance, if any, as he considers necessary, any premises in which he has reason to believe that an offence under this act or the rules made thereunder has been or is being or is about to be committed, or for the purpose of satisfying himself that the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder or the conditions of any certificate of registration or licence issued thereunder are being complied with;
(b) to require the production of, and to inspect, examine and made copies of, or take extracts from, registers, records or other documents kept by a manufacturer, distributor, carrier, dealer or any other person in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder and seize the same, if he has reason to believe that all or any of them may furnish evidence of the commission of an offence punishable under this Act or the rules made thereunder ;
(c) to make such examination and inquiry as he thinks fit in order to ascertain whether the provisions this Act or the rules made thereunder are being complied with and for that purpose stop any vehicle;
(d) to stop the distribution, sale or sue of an insecticide which he has reason to believe is being distributed, sold or used in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, for a specified period not exceeding20"Thirty" days, or unless the alleged contravention is such that the defect may be removed by the possessor of the insecticide, seize the stock of such insecticide;
(e) to take samples of any insecticide and send such samples for analysis to tine Insecticide Analyst for test in the prescribed manner; and
(f) to exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act or the rules made thereunder.
19[(2) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall, as far as may be, apply to any search or seizure under this Act as they apply to any search or seizure made under the authority of a warrant issued under Sec. 94of the said Code.]
(3) An Insecticide Inspector may exercise the powers of a police officer under21[Sec. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)], for the purpose of ascertaining the true name and residence of the person form whom a sample is taken or insecticide is seized.
SECTION 22: PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED BY INSECTICIDE INSPECTORS
(1) Where an Insecticide In- spector seizes any record, register or document under Cl. (b) sub-section (1) of Sec. 21-, he shall, as soon as may be, inform a Magistrate and take his orders as to the custody thereof.
(2) Where an Insecticide Inspector takes any action under Cl. (d) of subsection (1) of Sec. (a) he shall use all despatch in ascertaining whether or not the insecticide or its sale, distribution or use contravenes any of the provisions of Sec. 18-and if it is ascertained that the insecticide or its sale, distribution or sue does not so contravene, forthwith revoke the order passed under the said clause or, as the case may be, take such action as may be necessary for the return of the stock, seized;
(b) if he seizes the stock of the insecticide he shall, as soon as may be, inform a Magistrate and take his orders as to the custody thereof;
(c) without prejudice to the institution of any prosecution, if the alleged contra- vention be such that the defect may be remedied by the possessor of the insecticide, he shall, on being satisfied that the defect has been so remedied, forthwith revoke his order and in case where the Insecticide Inspector has seized the stock of insecticide, he shall, as soon as may be, inform a Magistrate and obtain his order as to the release thereof.
22"(3) Where an Insecticide Inspector takes any sample of an insecticide, he shall issue a receipt therefor stating therein that the fair price of such sample shall be tendered if the sample, after test or analysis is not found to be misbranded and the Insecticide Analyst has reported to that effect and on such price having been tendered may require a written acknowledgement therefor."
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