Parliament has accepted the pesticides bill for consideration.

The bill was accepted with 70 votes at Wednesday’s sitting.

Deputy speaker Eva Abdulla said the bill will be evaluated by the economic affairs committee and the environment committee.

The bill was proposed, on behalf of the government, by Thoddoo MP Hassan Shiyan.

The purpose of the bill is to regulate potentially threatening agents, such as pesticides used for agriculture, to protect citizens and the ecology of islands by setting standards for the import, use, production, export, and disposal of pesticides.

The bill includes best practices for the use of pesticides in terms of the health of the public and the environment as well as ecological conservation.

The President’s Office stated that the bill also allocates a Pesticide Unit within the relevant ministry, with a mandate to assist and protect the public from adverse effects of the misuse of pesticides. This unit will include a research division with official laboratories to monitor, evaluate and collect data and statistics to help make the safest decisions for the community.

Once ratified, those that fail to comply with the law will face fines ranging between MVR 5,000 and MVR 10,000.