Interpretation

(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires“Authority” means the Belize Agricultural Health Authority established under section 3 of the Act; CAP. 211. “accredit” or “accredited” means officially recognized by the competent authority to certify, inspect or audit the quality, diagnostic or calibration laboratory, and to verify in the national environ, the compliance of technical conditions and requirements required for the functioning of the entities responsible for control and verifications of sanitary and phytosanitary measures; “cargo vessel” means any conveyance carrying commodities from one place to another; “certificate” means an official document which attests to the sanitary or phytosanitary status of any consignment affected by sanitary or phytosanitary regulations; “certification” means the procedure by which official certification bodies or officially recognized certification bodies 10 provide written or equivalent assurance that foods or food control systems confirm with requirements. Certification of food may, as appropriate, be based on a range of inspection activities which may include continuous online inspections, auditing of quality assurance systems, and examination of finished products; “commodity” means any type of plant, animal, their products and byproducts, or other article being moved for trade or other purpose; “consignment” means a quantity of plants, plant products, animal and animal products or other regulated commodity being moved from one country or region to another; “consignment in transit” means a consignment that is not imported into a country but passes through it to another country, subject to official procedures which ensure that it remains enclosed, and is not split up, or combined with other consignments or has its packaging changed; “construction material” means cement, steel, plywood, fibre- cement, lumber, stone, sand, gravel, ceramic tiles, cement blocks, ceramic bricks, marble stones, granite and other like “conveyance” means any vessel, aircraft, vehicle, cart, container, animal or other thing that can convey plants, plant products, animal, animal products, carcass, biologics, veterinary drugs, pests, beneficial organisms, or other commodity from one place to another; “cruise ship” means a ship carrying fare-paying passengers on a tour and calling on a port in Belize; “cut flowers and branches” means a class of commodity of fresh parts of plants intended for decorative use and not for planting; Belize Agricultural Health Authority [CAP. 211 11 “designated officer” means a person employed and/or accredited to carry out the functions of the Authority; “entry” means, in relation to a consignment, movement through any official designated port of entry into the territory of Belize; “exporter” means anyone who, whether as owner, consignor, consignee, agent, broker or otherwise, is in possession of or in any way entitled to the custody of any plant, plant product, animal, animal product, pest, beneficial organism or other regulated article landed or likely to be landed in any country or region other than Belize; “floral arrangement” means a regulated commodity which is made of flowers or flora with greens and placed in a proper order or in a correct or suitable sequence or adjustment and includes bouquets; “greens” means and includes ferns, stems, leaves, grass and branches; “import” means bringing into Belize by any means whatever; “importer” means any person who, whether as owner, consignor, consignee, agent, broker or otherwise, is in possession of, or in control of, or in any way entitled to the custody of any plant, plant product, animal, animal product, pest, beneficial organism or other regulated article landed or likely to be landed in Belize from another country or region; “inspection” means official visual examination of plants, plant products, animals, animal products or other regulated articles to determine if pests or diseases are present and/or to determine compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary regulations; “large yacht” means a vessel measuring fifty (50) feet or more in length and/or ten (10) feet or more in width; 12 “non-commercial purposes” means the use of imported commodities or products for purposes other than for sale to the general public; “normal working hours” means the hours between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday in each week, except on a bank or public holiday; “point of entry” means airport, seaport or land border point officially designated for the importation of consignments, and/or entrance of passengers; “regulated commodity” means any commodity, storage place, packaging, conveyance, container, soil and any organism, object or material capable of resulting in the entry, harbouring or spreading of pests or diseases; “sanitary and phytosanitary measure” include all relevant laws, decrees, regulations, requirements and procedures including, inter alia, end product criteria, processes and production methods; testing, inspection, certification and approval procedures; including relevant requirements associated with the transport of animals or plants, or with the materials necessary for their survival during transport; provisions on relevant statistical methods, sampling procedures and methods of risk assessment; and packaging and labelling requirements directly related to food safety; “small yacht” means a vessel measuring less than fifty (50) feet in length and/or less than ten (10) feet in width; “station” means the place where a Quarantine Inspector is assigned to remain or work; “wood packaging material” means wood, dunnage or wood products, excluding paper products, used in supporting, protecting or carting a commodity. Belize Agricultural Health Authority [CAP. 211 13 (2) The words and expressions used in these Regulations shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Belize Agricultural Health Authority Act unless such words and expressions are defined in subregulation (1). CAP. 211.