Insecticides (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023

 

[17th March 2023]

Whereas the draft rules further to amend the Insecticides Rules, 1971, was published, as required by section 36 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 (46 of 1968) vide notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare) number G.S.R. 806 (E), dated the 27th October, 2022, in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, section-3, sub-section (i), inviting objections or suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby, before the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette of India in which the said notification was published were made available to the public;

And whereas, copies of the said notification were made available to the public on 07th November, 2022;

And whereas, objections or suggestions received from the public in respect of the said draft rules have been considered by the Central Government;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 36 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 (46 of 1968), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Insecticides Rules, 1971, namely :-

Rule - 1. Short title and commencement

(1)     These Rules may be called the Insecticides (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023.

(2)     They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Rule - 2.

In the Insecticides rules, 1971 (hereinafter referred as the said rules), in sub-rule (1) of rule 19,-

(a)      in clause (i),-

(i)       the words "unless stated otherwise" shall be omitted.

(ii)      in sub-clause (a) , for the bracket and words "(The Brand name shall not be of bigger size than 1.5 times size of common name)" the words "Equal prominence shall be given to the Brand name and Common name" shall be substituted.

(iii)     in sub-clause (w) , after the first proviso, following proviso shall be inserted:

"Provided that QR Code shall be placed on retail pack (Primary or Secondary pack as the case may be) at suitable place where on scanning the QR code by scanning equipment like mobile phone, a web link or link for opening the URL of the Manufacturing company will appear, which on pressing or clicking, will take the user to the entire unique information of label and leaflet and the QR code shall contain at least the following information:

(a)      Unique Identifier or GTIN;

(b)      Batch Number;

(c)      Date of Manufacturing;

(d)      Date of Expiry;

(e)      Web link or URL.

(iv)    in Note II, the following provisio shall be inserted, namely:-

"provided that the size of pictograms shall be half- square centimeter (0.5 cm x 0.5 cm) in respect of labels of ultra-small packs only".

(b)      in clause (ii), the word "unless stated otherwise" shall be omitted.

(c)      in clause (iii), in sub-clause (a), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that for ultra-small packs, multiple primary packs may be packed in one secondary pack and the manufacturer shall ensure leaflet and QR code be securely attached with each primary pack before packing them in one secondary pack."

Rule - 3.

In the said rules, after sub-rule (3), following proviso shall be inserted:

"Provided that for ultra-small packs, the dimensions of the said square shall be not less than 2.25 square centimeters (1.5cm x1.5 cm)."

Rule - 4.

After sub-rule (3), the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-

Explanation: For the purposes sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (3), it is hereby clarified that,-

(i)       no registration certificate holder shall use a label or leaflet, which is not in accordance with the provisions of the Insecticides (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023, after a period of six months from the date of commencement of the Insecticides (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023.

(ii)      no insecticides or its package bearing a label or leaflet, which is not in accordance with the provisions of the Insecticides (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023, shall be distributed, sold, exhibited for sale or stocked, after expiry of two years from the date of commencement of the Insecticides (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023 or its expiry date, whichever is earlier and this explanation shall cease to exist after expiry of the said period, unless otherwise directed.