Plant Pests And Diseases Act [CHAPTER 19:08]

CHAPTER 19:08

Plant Pests And Diseases Act

Acts 11/1958 (Federal), 33/1970, 55/1973, 41/1978 (s. 11), 39/1979, 16/1989, 22/2001 (s. 4); RG.N.s 653/1963, 217/1970.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Section

1. Short title.
3. This Act binds the State.

PART II

ERADICATION AND PREVENTION OF SPREAD OF PESTS

4. Regulatory powers to eradicate pests, etc.
5. Regulatory powers to inspect, disinfect and fumigate vehicles.
6. Duty of owner to eradicate pests.

PART III

CONTROL OF IMPORTATION OF GROWING MEDIA, INJURIOUS ORGANISMS, INVERTEBRATES AND PLANTS

7. Interpretation in Part III.
8. Regulatory powers to control import of growing media, etc.
9. Powers of inspectors in relation to imported growing media, etc.
10. Seizure, detention and destruction of growing media, etc. unlawfully imported.

PART IV

SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CURED TOBACCO

12. Handling, storing and removal of cured tobacco.
13. Licensing of premises.
14. Sections 12 (a) and 13 to apply to premises of certain growers only.
15. Orders prohibiting handling and storing in and removal to or from premises of cured tobacco.
16. Discovery of pests on premises.
17. Removal of cured tobacco from pest-infested premises, etc., prohibited.
18. Permits for removal of cured tobacco from pest-infested premises, etc.
19. Costs of inspection.
20. Destruction of cured tobacco handled or stored or removed in contravention of Part IV.
21. Regulatory powers in connection with pests.

PART V

GENERAL

22. Appointment of inspectors.
23. Powers of inspectors.
24. Sale of pest-infested plants by nurserymen.
25. Appeals against orders of destruction.
27. Limitation of actions against State.

28A. Destruction of growing media, plants, etc.

29. General regulatory powers.
30. Conditions contained in permits.

AN ACT to provide for the eradication and prevention of the spread of plant pests and diseases in Zimbabwe for the prevention of the introduction into Zimbabwe of plant pests and diseases, and for matters incidental thereto.

[Date of commencement: 1st January, 1959.]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

1    Short title

This Act may be cited as the Plant Pests and Diseases Act [Chapter 19:08].

                       2    Interpretation

• In this Act—

“alternate host” means a plant which is declared to be an alternate host of a pest in terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (2);

“container” means a case, package, pot, sack or other article containing a growing medium, injurious organism, invertebrate or plant and includes a covering, wrapping or packing material used in the packing of a growing medium, injurious organism, invertebrate or plant;

“cured tobacco” means tobacco which is not—

• cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco, plug or rolled tobacco, snuff or any like product; or
• tobacco leaves, flowers or stalks in a green state; or
• living tobacco plants;

“disease” means a pathological condition of plants communicable or believed to be communicable by the transfer of a causative agent or by the propagation of an infected plant;

“grower”, in relation to tobacco, means a person who by himself or his agents grows tobacco in Zimbabwe;

“growing medium” means a medium, including soil, capable of being used for the propagation or culture of plants;

“host plant” means a plant which is capable of being the host of a pest;

“infested area” means an area declared in terms of this Act to be an infested area;

“injurious organism” means any organism or like agent whatsoever, including a virus, which is—

• inimical to the growth or existence of living plants; or
• injurious to plant products; or
• capable of producing a disease of plants; in whatever stage of development it may be;

“inspector” means an inspector appointed in terms of subsection (1) of section twenty-two and includes a person exercising or performing functions conferred or imposed upon him in terms of subsection (2) of that section;

“invertebrate” means a living invertebrate animal organism in whatever stage of development it may be;

“Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time to time, assign the administration of this Act;

“nursery” means land or premises in Zimbabwe where nursery stock is grown or cultivated for trade and includes other land or premises adjacent thereto, held by the same owner, where plants are grown;

“nurseryman” means the owner or other person responsible for the management of a nursery;

“nursery stock” means plants in their growing state which are—

• grown or cultivated for trade; or
• though not grown or cultivated for trade, sold or offered or exposed for sale; for the purpose of their being grown elsewhere than on the land or premises on which they stand, but does not include vegetables, annuals, herbaceous plants or ferns;

“owner”, in relation to land or premises, includes a joint owner, part owner, lessee or occupier or the agent of an owner, joint owner, part owner, lessee or occupier;

“pest” means an injurious organism which is declared to be a pest in terms of paragraph (a) of subsection (2);

“plant” means a member of the vegetable kingdom whether living or dead and includes— (a)       tubers, bulbs, corms, roots, cuttings, grafts, seeds and fruits; and

• any part of a plant whether severed therefrom or not; and
• an unmanufactured plant product;

“premises”, in relation to cured tobacco, means a warehouse, building or structure in which such tobacco is handled or stored and includes the land held by the owner of the warehouse, building or structure— (a)           on which the warehouse, building or structure is situate; or

(b) which may be adjacent to land referred to in paragraph (a); but does not, unless the Minister by order otherwise provides, include a warehouse, building, structure or land referred to in this definition which is used solely for the purpose of storing and manufacturing cured tobacco and from which no cured tobacco is removed;

“quarantine area” means an area declared in terms of this Act to be a quarantine area; “vehicle” includes an aircraft, railway train and ship.

• For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may, by regulation, order or notice—
  • declare an injurious organism to be a pest either generally or in respect of a particular type of plant and either with a view to its complete eradication or its control or the prevention of its spread or for some other purpose; and
  • declare a plant to be an alternate host of a pest.

                       3    This Act binds the State

This Act shall bind the State.

PART II

ERADICATION AND PREVENTION OF SPREAD OF PESTS 4 Regulatory powers to eradicate pests, etc.

• The Minister may, by regulation, order or notice, provide for the eradication of pests or the prevention or control of attacks by or the spread of pests.
• The Minister may, in regulations, orders or notices made in terms of subsection (1), provide for— (a) the disinfection, treatment, destruction or disposal of—
  • pests; or
  • plants infested or appearing to be infested with a pest; or
  • anything whatever whether similar in nature to a plant or not which, in the opinion of the Minister, is liable to infest a plant with a pest;
• the prohibition, restriction and regulation of the removal or transport of pests, plants or things referred to in paragraph (a);
• the control and destruction of host plants not under cultivation for the current season’s crop and of alternate hosts;
• the prohibition, restriction and regulation of the cultivation and harvesting of plants if, in the opinion of the Minister, a pest cannot otherwise be readily or adequately controlled or eradicated;
• the reporting of the occurrence of a pest and the collection and transmission of specimens of a pest;
• the methods of planting, cleaning, cultivating and harvesting to be adopted and the precautions and measures, including the destruction of plants, to be taken by an owner of land for the purpose of preventing or controlling attacks by or the spread of a pest;
• the destruction after harvest of a particular kind of plant by a specified date;
• the registration and inspection of nurseries and the imposition of registration fees, the regulation of the sale or removal of plants from nurseries and the prohibition of the sale or exposure for sale of nursery stock not grown in registered nurseries;
• the disinfection, fumigation and treatment of land, warehouses, buildings and structures suspected of being or having been used for the storage of anything likely to infest a plant with a pest;
• the declaration of areas infested with a pest as infested areas and of areas around infested areas as quarantine areas and the prohibition, restriction and regulation of the removal of compost, growing media, manure, plants and other things whatsoever to or from infested or quarantine areas;
• the payment and recovery of fees for a disinfection, fumigation or treatment carried out by an inspector, or for services rendered by an inspector in connection with a disinfection, fumigation or treatment, or for an inspection carried out by an inspector at the request of an owner of land, warehouses, buildings, structures, plants or other things;
• the power of an inspector, if he reasonably suspects the presence of a pest on land or in premises, to declare the area in which the land or premises is situate an infested area and, by order, to prohibit, for a period not exceeding fourteen days, the removal from the land or premises of compost, growing media, manure, plants and other things whatsoever capable of spreading a pest.

5 Regulatory powers to inspect, disinfect and fumigate vehicles The Minister may, by regulation, provide for—

• the inspection, disinfection or fumigation of vehicles which are suspected of harbouring an injurious organism;
• the payment and recovery of fees for the inspection, disinfection or fumigation of vehicles referred to in paragraph (a) or for services rendered by an inspector in connection therewith.

                       6    Duty of owner to eradicate pests

• An owner of land or premises shall take all measures prescribed and such additional or such alternative measures as eradicate pests are reasonably necessary for the eradication, reduction or prevention of the spread of a pest which an inspector may, subject to subsection (2), by notice in writing order him to take.
• An inspector shall not order the destruction of a living plant in terms of subsection (1) unless authorized to do so by regulation, order or notice made in terms of section
• If an owner of land or premises fails to take all or any of the measures which he is required to take in terms of subsection (1), an inspector may—
• on giving the owner not less than seven days’ notice in writing of his intention so to do, cause the measures to be taken; or
• if he is satisfied that the measures must be taken without delay, cause the measures to be taken immediately without giving the notice referred to in paragraph (a).
• An owner of land or premises shall, without prejudice to any penalty incurred by reason of his failure to take the measures which he is required to take in terms of subsection (1), be liable to pay the costs of the measures which an inspector causes to be taken in terms of subsection (3).
• The Minister may, by civil proceedings in a competent court, recover from an owner of land or premises the costs of measures which an inspector causes to be taken in terms of subsection (3). PART III

CONTROL OF IMPORTATION OF GROWING MEDIA, INJURIOUS ORGANISMS, INVERTEBRATES AND PLANTS

                       7    Interpretation in Part III

In this Part—

“importation”, in relation to growing media, injurious organisms, invertebrates or plants, means the importation into or the transit through Zimbabwe of growing media, injurious organisms, invertebrates or plants.

• Regulatory powers to control import of growing media, etc.
  • The Minister may, by regulation, order or notice, provide for the prohibition, restriction and regulation of the importation of any— (a) growing media; and
  • injurious organisms and invertebrates; and
  • plants and the growing media in which plants are growing or to which plants are attached or which may be adhering to plants;

together with their containers.

• The Minister may, in regulations, orders or notices made in terms of subsection (1)—
• authorize or require the detention and inspection on importation of growing media and plants and their

containers;

• direct or authorize the disinfection, fumigation or treatment of imported growing media and plants and their containers;
• authorize the immediate destruction, without compensation, of imported growing media and plants which on inspection appear to be infested with an injurious organism and of any plants included in the same container, if the injurious organism is of a specially dangerous character or in the opinion of the inspector—
  • disinfection is impracticable or will not be a complete safeguard; or
  • the delay caused by disinfection would give rise to the risk of the introduction or spread of the injurious organism;
• authorize the immediate destruction, without compensation, of an imported invertebrate if, in the opinion of an inspector, the invertebrate might be a potential danger to agriculture:
• prohibit the importation of growing media, invertebrates and plants except by specified ports or places of entry and routes and by specified methods of transport;
• direct or authorize the detention of imported growing media, invertebrates and plants for observation and prescribe the precautions to be taken during detention;
• provide for the imposition and recovery of fees for sorting, disinfecting, fumigating or treating growing media and plants on importation;
• provide for the disposal of imported growing media and plants in respect of which prescribed fees are not paid and of the proceeds, if any, resulting from their disposal;
• provide for the issue of permits as a prerequisite to the importation of growing media, injurious organisms, invertebrates and plants;
• provide for the production of certificates signed by responsible persons or authorities in the country or territory of origin relating generally or specifically to—
  • the freedom of imported growing media, invertebrates and plants or the area in which they were produced or grown from injurious organisms; and
  • the fumigation or other processes of disinfection or treatment of imported growing media and plants before dispatch;

(k) provide for the production of certificates of origin of imported growing media, injurious organisms, invertebrates and plants and for the furnishing by the importer of particulars relating to imported growing media, injurious organisms, invertebrates and plants.