Farmers to benefit greatly from Indian Supreme Court's decision

The Supreme Court of India recently disallowed a Special Leave Petition that tried to challenge the order of the Gujarat High Court on the adoption of new pesticide registration guidelines.

 

The Pesticides Manufacturers & Formulators Association of India (PMFAI) had previously filed a lawsuit in the Gujarat High Court against the Indian Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee's (CIB&RC's) guidelines allowing the registration of "imported readymade pesticide formulations without registering the technical grade pesticide (active ingredient) in India." 

 

In September 2013, the Gujarat High Court handed down a judgment that the procedure of "deemed registration" granted to technical grade pesticides under the guidelines for a period of three years could not be sustained and that no further "deemed registrations" were to be granted. The High Court also directed the authorities to frame new balanced guidelines giving equal opportunities to domestic manufacturers.

 

At CIB&RC‘s 359th meeting, held on November 2, 2015, the Registration Committee of the CIB approved new guidelines for Technical Indigenous Manufacture versus Formulation Imports, which were submitted to the Gujarat High Court on November 27, 2015. In April 2016, the new guidelines were formally adopted.

 

The Special Leave Petition filed subsequently against the new guidelines received no support from the Supreme Court. 

 

“The Supreme Court has not entertained the petition and has referred the matter back to the Gujarat High Court. Hence, the Gujarat High Court's decision in its official pronouncement, dated May 6, 2016, will continue to stand,” said PMFAI.

 

“The biggest beneficiary of the decision by the Supreme Court of India will be the Indian farmers, as they will receive locally manufactured pesticides from the Indian pesticide industry at half the price of imported products,” PMFAI added.