Council of Ministers Resolution No. 9 of 2012 on the system of agricultural pesticides

This Regulation consisting of 73 articles aims at issuing a strict pesticides management system in the Palestinian Authority territory setting rules on pesticides in terms of import, export, and registration processes. It establishes a scientific Committee to determine the types of pesticides that can be used and to monitor and control their quality. The Committee is also charged with publishing each year, and distributing to stakeholders, a record of the pesticides registered. It lays down some definitions of significant terms (Art.1). Article 4 prohibits the use of pesticides that are (i) banned for use in the Occupied West Bank; (ii) banned for use in their country of origin for health or environmental reasons; (iii) classified by the World Health Organization or the US Environmental Protection Agency as causing cancer or birth defects or genetic mutations, or severe toxicity to humans or animals; and (iv) being groundwater pollutants. Article 5 lists the purposes for which is permitted the importation of the pesticides without registration. The Regulation explains in details the procedures for registering pesticides.
Registered pesticides can be cancelled for reasons, including (i) new properties emerging after registration; (ii) if it appears that the use of the pesticide in the local conditions may cause local damage to the environment; (iii) if as a result of random sampling the pesticide does not meet the specifications or technical regulations: (iv) registration is cancelled in the country of origin: and (v) prohibition is recommended by official international organizations. Additionally, there are strict conditions regarding the import of pesticides, such as (i) importers must have written consent from the Ministry of National Economy; (ii) label must be in Arabic; (iii) dealers must have a licence and full Palestinian citizenship; (i) the shop must have a full-time engineer who holds a degree in agricultural science; (iv) the trader must keep records of types and amounts of pesticides, and their source; and (v) pesticides must be in their original container.