Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, “advertisement” means any representation by any means whatsoever for the purpose of promoting directly or indirectly the sale or other distribution of any pesticides; “agriculture” means the production and storage of any produce for consumption or any other purpose and includes the use of land for grazing, forestry and woodland, fish culture, bee culture, market gardening, horticulture and nurseries or animal husbandry; “approved analyst” means the government analyst or any other analyst approved by the Minister; 6 “article” or “article to which the Act and regulations apply” means, (a) a pesticide or any produce to which a pesticide is believed to have been applied; (b) anything used for the manufacture, packaging, storage, application or use of a pesticide; or (c) any labelling, packaging or advertising material which relates to a pesticide; “Board” means the Pesticides Control Board established under section 3; “code of practice” means Regulations made by the Minister on the recommendations of the Board under section 15(1)(s) of this Act, containing requirements to be followed in a regulation to achieve safe pesticide use and handling; “container” means anything in which a pesticide is wholly or partly contained or packed; “extermination” means the use of pesticides for the destruction or control of pests on any land or premises or in a vehicle, ship or aircraft whether on land or any other place; “general use pesticide” means a pesticide registered as a pesticide and intended for use according to the label; “label” means any legend, word or mark attached to, included in, belonging to or accompanying a container; “manufacture” means the formulation, compounding or synthesizing of a pesticide; “Minister” means the Minister responsible for agriculture; 7 “owner” means the owner of an article, his servant or agent, the person in whose possession an article is found, the owner of a vehicle or land or premises in which or on which an article is found, or the employer of a worker; “packaging” means the activity of putting pesticides in containers for sale or distribution; “pest” means any insect, rodent, bird, fish, mollusc, nematode, fungus, weed, micro-organism, virus, ectoparasites of animals and any other kind of plant or animal life which is injurious, troublesome or undesirable to growing crops, produce, processed food, wood, clothes, fabrics or other inanimate objects; “pesticide” means any substance intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest or vector of human, animal or plant disease, and includes any substance intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant, agent for thinning fruit, or for preventing the premature fall of fruits, or a substance applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transportation, and any substance applied externally to animals for the control of ectoparasites; “pesticide applicator” means a person who uses pesticides to carry out an extermination; “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this Act; “produce” means a crop grown for consumption or other use after it is severed from the land and includes anything ordinarily used or which may be used in the composition of food for human beings and domestic and farm animals, but does not include growing crops; “producer association” means a formally established body representing the interests of producers in agriculture or animal 8 production which is interested in or is affected by the control of pesticides, including the Beekeepers Industry, the Belize Livestock Producers Association, the Citrus Growers Association, the Grain Growers Association, the Banana Growers Association, the Cane Farmers Association and any other similar associations; “prohibited pesticide” means any pesticide of which the possible effects on the environment, plants, animals or human beings are considered by the Minister to be too dangerous to justify its use; “restricted use pesticide” means a pesticide which, if used in accordance with a widespread and commonly recognised practice, may generally cause, without additional regulatory action, unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, including the applicator and other people, Provided that the terms “registered pesticide” and “restricted pesticide” shall be construed to mean “general use pesticide” and “restricted use pesticide” respectively wherever they occur in this Act and in subsidiary legislation; “Registrar” means the employee of the Board responsible for registers of pesticides under section 10 of this Act; “worker” means a person employed in the use and handling of