[ Act No. 3091, March 16, 1923 ]
AN ACT TO PREVENT THE IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, SALE, OR TRANSPORTATION WITHIN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED PARIS GREENS, LEAD ARSENATES, LIME-SULPHUR COMPOUNDS, AND OTHER INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES, AND REGULATING TRAFFIC THEREIN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, association or corporation to import, manufacture, sell or offer for sale, within the Philippine Islands, any insecticide or fungicide which is adulterated or misbranded, within the meaning of this Act.
Section 2. It shall be unlawful for any person, association or corporation to defraud any other person or corporation by misrepresenting the value, quality or composition of any treatment applied to trees, shrubs, vines, or other plant material, or to any animal, for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insect, fungus, or bacterial disease, or for accelerating its growth or productive power.
Section 3. The Secretary of Agriculture and. Natural Resources shall promulgate uniform rules and regulations for enforcing this Act, including the collection and examination, by existing bureaus, of insecticides and fungicides, imported, manufactured, or offered for sale in the Philippines for the purpose of determining whether such articles are adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act; and, if it shall appear after such examination that any such specimens are adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall cause notice thereof to be given to the party from whom such sample was obtained. Any party so notified shall be given an opportunity to be heard, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed as aforesaid, and if it appears that any of the provisions of this Act have been violated by such party, then the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall at once certify the facts to the Attorney-General, with a copy of the results of the analysis or the examination of such articles duly authenticated and sworn to by the analyst or officer making such examination.
Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to whom the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall report any violation of this Act, or to whom the Director of the Bureau of Science or agent under authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall present satisfactory evidences of any such violation, to cause appropriate proceedings to be commenced and prosecuted in the proper courts of the Philippines, without delay, for the enforcement of the penalties as in such case herein provided.ℒαwρhi৷
Section 5. For the purposes of this Act, the following terms are defined:
(a) Insecticide.-This term shall include any substance, or mixture of substances, intended to be used for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects which may infest vegetation, man, or animals, or households, or be present in any environment whatsoever.
(b) Paris green.-This term shall include the product sold in commerce as Paris green, and chemically known as the aceto-arsenate of copper.
(c) Lead arsenate.-This term shall include the product or products sold in commerce as lead arsenate, and consisting chemically of products derived from arsenic acid (H3AsO4), by replacing one or more hydrogen atoms by lead.
(d) Fungicide.-This term shall include any substance, or mixture of substances, intented to be used for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any and all fungi or other micro-organisms that may infest vegetation, or animals, or be present in any environment whatsoever.
(e) Misbranded.-This term shall apply to Paris green, lead arsenate, and all other insecticides or fungicides, or articles which enter into the composition of insecticides or fungicides, the package, label, or accompanying descriptive circulars which shall bear any statement, design, or device regarding such article, or the ingredients or sub- stances contained therein, which shall be false or misleading in any particular, and to all insecticides or fungicides, which are falsely branded as to the territory, or country in which they are manufactured or produced.
Section 6. For the purposes of this Act, an article shall be deemed to be adulterated:
(a) In the case of Paris green,-first, if it does not contain at least fifty per centum of arsenious oxide; second, if it contains arsenic in water-soluble forms equivalent to more than three and one-half per centum (3.5%) of arsenious oxide; third, if any substance has been mixed and packed with it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength.
(b) In the case of lead arsenate,-first, if it contains more than fifty per centum of water; second, if it contains total arsenic equivalent to less than twelve and one-half per centum (12.5%) of arsenic oxide (As2O5) ; third, if it contains arsenic in water soluble forms equivalent to more than seventy-five one hundreds per centum (75/100% or ¾) of arsenic oxide (As2O5); fourth, if any substances have been mixed and packed with it so as to reduce, lower, or injuriously affect its quality or strength: Provided, however, That extra water may be added to lead arsenate (as described in this paragraph) if the resulting mixture is labeled lead arsenate and water, the percentage of extra water being plainly and correctly stated on the label.
(c) In the case of insecticides or fungicides other than Paris green and lead arsenate,-first, if its strength or purity fall below the professed standard or quality under which it is sold; second, if any substance has been substituted wholly or in part for any given insecticide or fungicide; third, if any valuable constituent of the articles has been wholly or in part abstracted; fourth, if it is intended for use of vegetation, and shall contain any substance or substances which, although preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating insects or fungi, shall be injurious to such vegetation when- used.
Section 7. For the purposes of this Act, an article shall be deemed to be misbranded:
(a) In the case of insecticides, Paris green, lead arsenates, and all other insecticides or fungicides,-first, if it be an imitation, or offered for sale under the name of another article; second, if it be labeled or branded so as to deceive or mislead the purchaser, or if the contents of the package as originally put up shall have been removed, in whole or in part, and other contents shall have been place in such package; third, if the quantity of the contents be not plainly and correctly marked on the outside of the package, in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count.
(b) In the case of insecticides (other than Paris greens and lead arsenates) and fungicides,-first, if it contains arsenic in any of its combinations or in the elemental form, and the total amount of arsenic present (expressed as per centum of metallic arsenic) is not stated on the label; second, if it contains arsenic in any of its combinations or in the elemental form, and the amount of arsenic in water- soluble forms (expressed as per centum of metallic arsenic) is not stated on the label; third, if it consists, partially or completely, of an inert substance, or substances, which do not effectively prevent, destroy, or repel insects or fungi, and does not have the names and percentage amounts of each and every one of such inert ingredients, and the fact that they are inert, plainly and correctly stated on the label: Provided, however, That in lieu of naming and stating the percentage of each and every ingredient, the producer may, at his discretion, state plainly upon the label the correct names and percentage amounts of each and every ingredient of the insecticide or fungicide having insecticidal or fungicidal properties, and make no mention of the inert ingredients, except in so far as to state the total percentage of inert ingredients present.
Section 8. No dealer shall be prosecuted under the provisions of this Act when he can establish a guaranty signed by the wholesaler, jobber, manufacturer, or other party residing in the Philippine Islands, from whom he purchases such articles, to the effect that the same is not adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act, designating it. Said guaranty, to afford protection, shall contain the name and address of the party or parties making the sale of such articles to such dealer, and in such case said party or parties shall be amenable to the prosecutions, fines, and other penalties which would be attached, in due course, to the dealer under the provisions of this Act.
Section 9. Any article of insecticide or fungicide that is adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act, that, having been transported, remains unloaded, unsold, or in original unbroken packages, or if it be sold, or offered for sale in the Philippine Islands, or if it be imported from the United States or a foreign country for sale, or if it is intended for export to the United States or to a foreign country, shall be liable to be proceeded against in the Court of First Instance in the Philippine Islands of the judicial district within which the same is found, and shall be seized for confiscation and condemnation by said court in the proceedings so initiated. And if such article is found to be adulterated or misbranded, or of deleterious character, within the meaning of this Act, the same shall be disposed of by destruction or sale as the said court may direct, and the proceeds thereof, if sold, less the legal costs and charges, shall be paid into the Insular Treasury, but such goods shall not be sold in the Philippine Islands contrary to the provisions of this Act: Provided, however, That upon the payment of the costs of the proceedings as provided in this section and the execution and delivery of a good and sufficient bond to the effect that such articles shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of contrary to the provisions of this Act or laws of the United States, or of any states, territory, district, or insular possession of the United States, the court may order and direct that such articles be delivered to the owner thereof.
Section 10. The Insular Collector of Customs shall deliver to the Director of Science, samples of insecticides and fungicides which are being imported into the Philippine Islands or offered for import, giving notice thereof to the owner or consignee, who may appear before the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources or any official designated by him and have the right to introduce testimony, and if it appears from the examination of such samples that any articles of insecticide or fungicide offered to be imported into the Philippine Islands is adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act, or otherwise deleterious to cultivated plants, or is otherwise falsely labeled in any respect, the said articles shall be refused admission. In such case, the Insular Collector of Customs shall refuse delivery to the consignee and shall cause the destruction of the good unless the consignee export the same within three months from the date of notice of such refusal under such regulations as the Insular Collector of Customs may prescribe: Provided, That the Insular Collector of Customs may deliver to the consignee such goods pending examination and decision in the matter upon the execution of a penal bond for double the amount of the full invoice value of such goods, together with the duty thereon, and on refusal to return such goods for any cause to the custody of the Insular Collector of Customs, when demanded for the purpose of excluding them from the country or for any other purpose, said consignee shall forfeit the full amount of the bond: And provided, further, That all charges for storage, cartage, and labor on goods which are refused admission or delivery shall be paid by the owner or consignee, and in default of such payment shall constitute a claim against such owner or consignee and a lien against any future importation made by the same.
Section 11. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this. Act, or any rule or regulation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources promulgated under this Act, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in an amount not to exceed one thousand pesos or sentenced to imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
Section 12. This Act shall be known as the "Insecticide and Fungicide Act."
Section 13. This Act shall take effect on July first nineteen hundred and twenty-three.
Approved, March 16, 1923.
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