February 21 2003, 10:42 Interfax-Ukraine

Ukraine's Parliament brings Ukraine's plant protection chemicals legislation into accord with EU norms

Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) on Thursday, February 20, adopted in the first reading a bill, stipulating amendments into some laws of Ukraine concerning production and sales of pesticides and other plant protection chemicals, to harmonise the provisions of national legislation with the legislative principles and norms of the European Union. The bill was favourably voted by 322 People's Deputies out of the 433 registered.

The bill, in particular, provides for a permit to bring into the country trial shipments of pesticides and plant protection chemicals to be used for state tests and scientific research, an also a permit to produce the chemicals for exports before the procedure of state registration. An obligatory condition of state registration of such chemicals, according to the bill, will be a favourable outcome of the state sanitary and epidemiologic expertise.

Besides that, it is proposed to bring amendments into the Law of insurance, stipulating a provision about obligatory insurance of civil responsibility of economic entities for a probable damage to the environment and people's health that could be produced during manufacture, storage, transportation and application of pesticides and plant protection chemicals.