Article 1. Objective of the Law
This law shall establish activity of all legal and natural
persons with respect to plant protection from diseases, pests and
weeds as well as the procedure for registration, manufacture,
import, trade, storage and state supervision of the chemical and
biological means for plant protection and plant growth regulation
materials.
Article 2. Basic Concepts
Basic concepts used in this Law are as follows:
plant protection means activity involving employment of
biological, chemical, quarantine and other means that protect
plants from disease agents, diseases, pests and weeds, or
decrease their harmful effects, and also preserve their
ecological equilibrium in nature;
biological means means entomophagous substances and
microbiological preparations, employed in plant protection from
disease agents, diseases, pests and weeds;
chemical means means chemical preparations employed in plant
protection from disease agents, diseases, pests, weeds as well as
growth regulators;
quarantine measures means the system of state measures
intended to protect the territory of the Republic of Lithuania
from introduction therein of particularly harmful pests, disease
agents and weeds that are of particular harm to agriculture and
forestry and also, to determine sources within the country of
organisms meriting quarantine and to localise and liquidate them;
registration of plant protection means means the process
wherein the use of new chemical and biological plant protection
means shall be legalised within the territory of the Republic of
Lithuania and regulations governing the use thereof shall be
established.
Article 3. State Administration and State Supervision of
Plant Protection
Taking into account the specific nature of this task, state
administration of plant protection within the Republic of
Lithuania shall be implemented by the Ministries of Agriculture
and Forestry through the state services for plant and forest
protection, the Ministry of Environmental Protection through
regional environmental protection agencies, the Ministry of
Health through public health care services, and the county
governor administrations, through agricultural departments and
district agricultural boards of county agricultural departments.
The aforementioned services shall supervise the import, storage,
trade and use of chemical and biological plant protection
articles, regardless of user jurisdiction status.
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish
the structure of environmental protection state administration
services.
The Chief Plant Protection Inspector of the Republic of
Lithuania, state plant protection inspectors and employees of the
forest protection service shall implement state inspection.
State plant quarantine supervision is implemented by the
Chief State Plant Quarantine Inspector and state plant quarantine
inspectors.
These inspectors and employees of State Forest Protection
Service shall have the right to:
1) supervise how natural and legal persons implement the
requirements of the Law on Plant Protection;
2) obtain information on plant diseases, pests, weeds,
spread of quarantine objects, destruction and utilisation of
chemical and biological means for plant protection;
3) stop the use of chemical and biological means of
protection upon violation of established regulations;
State plant protection inspectors shall have the right to
impose administrative penalties on land users for violations in
the use of plant protection means and also for failure to employ
measures to destroy weeds and arrest their spread.
Article 4. Financing of State Plant Protection Service
The State Plant Protection Service of the Ministry of
Agriculture shall be maintained from the State Budget and that of
the Ministry of Forestry, from the moneys of the Forestry Fund.
Article 5. State Plant Quarantine
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish
the measures of State Plant Quarantine. These measures shall be
compulsory for all natural and legal persons, connected with the
import, transfer, manufacture, production, protection, sale and
use of products of vegetable origin.
Article 6. Registration of Plant Protection Means
The State Commission for the Registration of Plant
Protection Means, approved by the Government of the Republic of
Lithuania, shall register chemical and biological plant
protection means in accordance with the established procedure.
Registered plant protection means shall be included in the
list of chemical and biological plant protection means, the use
of which is permitted and which shall be approved by the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 7. Production, Import and Trade of Plant
Protection Means and Materials
In the Republic of Lithuania it shall be permitted to
manufacture, import, sale and use only registered plant
protection means.
Natural and legal persons having licences and certificates
of preparations, shall be able to import, produce and engage in
the sale of chemical and biological plant protection means.
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall set the
procedure for issuance of licences for manufacture, import and
trade of chemical and biological plant protection means.
Trade in biological and chemical plant protection means
shall only be permitted when these are packed in the original
manufacturer's tara. Every package must be marked with a label in
the Lithuanian language and in the prescribed form. The label
should indicate the most significant methods and means of safe
transportation, protection, utilisation, first aid provision in
the event of poisoning, and ways and means of tara
detoxification.
Article 8. Use of Plant Protection Means and Materials
Plant protection from disease, pests and weeds is a matter
of state importance and shall be obligatory for all land and
forest users.
Plant protection means shall be employed by taking into
account the sanitary conditions of plants and in keeping with
established regulations and recommendations, as well as the
requirements of hygiene and environmental protection.
Article 9. Users of Plant Protection Means and Materials and
Their Obligations
Natural and legal persons who possess licences for this
activity, issued according to the procedure established by the
State Plant Protection Service of the Ministry of Agriculture,
may become the users of plant protection means.
Without licences issued by the State Plant Protection
Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, only low toxicity
preparations may be used.
Natural and legal persons employing plant protection means,
must:
1) be guided by this Law and other standard acts;
2) keep records of acquired chemical and biological plant
protection means and adequately store them;
3) observe usage technologies and recommendations of plant
protection means;
4) observe requirements of hygiene and environmental
protection;
5) provide information to interested departments concerning
plant diseases, pests, weeds, spread of quarantine-requiring
organisms, destruction and use of chemical and biological plant
protection means.
Article 10. Settlement of Disputes Concerning Plant
Protection
Disputes arising between state plant and forest protection
services and natural and legal persons shall be settled according
to procedure established by the laws of the Republic of
Lithuania.
Article 11. Legal Responsibility for Violation of the Plant
Protection Law of the Republic of Lithuania
Natural and legal persons who violate the requirements of
the Plant Protection Law of the Republic of Lithuania shall be
liable under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 12. International Cooperation in Plant Protection
Sphere
State Plant and Forest Protection Services of the Ministries
of Agriculture and Forestry, according to their competence, shall
represent the Republic of Lithuania in international
organisations, cooperate with organisations involved in research,
manufacture and trade in plant protection materials and exchange
the newest information on plant protection issues.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic
of Lithuania.
Algirdas Brazauskas
President of the Republic
Vilnius
19 October, 1995
No I - 1069