Published by the government of Zimbabwe
24 December 2007
Harare — Farmers, companies and members of the public should desist from the illegal importing and selling of pesticides while they should be wary of unscrupulous dealers,
selling products illegally using other companies' trade names, a Government official has said.
In a statement, Mr Kwadzanai Mushore, who is in charge of registration of pesticides in the Ministry of Agriculture's regulatory services department, urged farmers to buy their pesticides from reputable dealers.
"It has come to the attention of the Pesticide Registration Office that there are some individuals and companies that are illegally importing and selling crop and household pesticides in Zimbabwe.
"This is a serious and punishable criminal offence. The importation and sale of pesticides in Zimbabwe must be authorised by Pesticide Registration Office as provided for by the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds and Remedies Act," said Mr Mushore.
Pesticides covered under the Act include insecticides, fungicides, nematicides, rodenticides, growth regulators, bacteriocides and other chemicals while household insecticides included mosquito coils and aerosols.
Mr Mushore said all pesticides in the country must be registered locally.
"Pesticides are easily noted by the presence on their labels of a triangle bearing a registration number on its left. The triangle can either be green, amber (orange), red or purple in colour depending on the toxicity of the pesticide."
When a pesticide has been registered, an import permit can be issued by the Pesticide Registration Office for it to be brought into the country while all illegally imported pesticides will be destroyed when they are discovered.
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