The Agriculture Department has banned the sale of pesticides through hardware shops without proper trade licence. The department said its quality control wing was monitoring pesticide sale and warned of stringent legal action against those who violated the order.
The decision comes in the wake of detection of illegal sale of pesticides through hardware and paint shops in Kannur, Wayanad, and Kasaragod districts.
“Trading in pesticides by unlicensed retailers is an offence. If anyone wants to sell pesticides along with other items, a separate trade licence has to be obtained from the Agriculture Department,” officials said.
During a recent inspection, the department squad had found illegal sale of termite killers supplied by various companies in the State and outside. “Incidentally, some dealers were not even aware that termite killers belonged to the category of pesticides. And they used to sell them along with usual hardware items and paints,” officials added.
“We have banned unlicensed sale of pesticides through hardware and paint shops. If they [traders] obtain proper trade licence, it can be permitted,” said an Agriculture Department official. He added that checking would be conducted on a regular basis, and that the public too could pass on information on illegal dealers to the department.
Meanwhile, some hardware and paint dealers complained that obtaining licence for selling termite killers would put a huge financial burden on them. They also argued that such a rule had hardly been enforced in any other part of the State.
‘Unfair’
“For several years, local buyers have been depending on hardware shops for obtaining termite killers. Since we do not deal with large-scale pesticides, imposing such a licensing rule is unfair,” a hardware shop owner said. He also alleged that some large-scale pesticide dealers were behind the enforcement of the new rule.
