Government is taking action to protect the island’s plant resources and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security Indar Weir has cautioned Barbadians against bringing undeclared seeds or plant products through the Grantley Adams International Airport.
“Those practices I am urging people to stop because we cannot afford to take the risk of bringing diseases or pests into this country that we are not going to be able to manage,” Weir said yesterday while piloting the Plant Protection Bill 2022 in the House of Assembly.
The legislation will provide for the protection of plant resources by preventing the introduction of plant pests and controlling the spread of plant pests, in order to facilitate the trade in plants and plant products in accordance with the obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, the International Plant Protection Convention and the International Standards on Phytosanitary Measures. (GC)