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Plant Improvement Act, 1976 (Act No. 53 of 1976)

26. Importation of plants and propagating material

 

(1) No person shall import into the Republic any plant or propagating material
(a) unless the plant or propagating material—
(i) is of a variety of which the denomination is entered in the varietal list;
(ii) complies with the requirements prescribed in respect thereof;
(iii) is packed in a container which is sealed and branded, marked or labelled in the prescribed manner with the prescribed information;
(iv) is imported through a prescribed port of entry or such other place as the registrar may determine; and
(b) under a denomination other than the denomination entered in the varietal list in respect thereof.

[Section 26 (1)(b) amended by section 22(a) of Act No. 25 of 1996]

[Section 26 (1) substituted by section 10(a) of Act No. 17 of 1991]

 

(2)
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1)—
(i) the registrar may in his discretion and on such conditions as he may determine, in writing allow the importation of a consignment of plants or propagating material which does not conform to all or any of the requirements referred to in subsection (1); and
(ii) the Minister may by notice in the Gazette determine that any particular kind of plant, or propagating material of a particular kind of plant, shall only be imported with the permission in writing of the registrar and on such conditions as he may specify in such permission.

[Section 26 (2)(a) substituted by section 10(b) of Act No. 17 of 1991]

(b) A person requiring the permission of the registrar under paragraph (a) shall apply therefor to the registrar in the prescribed manner.

[Section 26 (2)(b) substituted by section 22(b) of Act No. 25 of 1996]

 

(3) A person importing a consignment of plants or propagating material shall furnish the registrar with the particulars which the registrar may determine regarding such consignment, and such consignment shall not be removed from a port or place contemplated in subsection 1 (a) (iv) unless the registrar has authorised the removal thereof in writing.

[Section 26 (3) substituted by section 22(c) of Act No. 25 of 1996]

 

(4) Plants and propagating material imported in terms of subsection (1) or (2) shall, if the registrar so requires, be presented for examination and sampling in terms of this section at a port or place contemplated in subsection (1)(a)(iv).

[Section 26 (4) substituted by section 22(c) of Act No. 25 of 1996]

 

(5)
(a) The registrar shall determine the manner in which plants and propagating material imported in terms of subsection (1) or (2) shall be presented for examination and sampling in terms of subsection (4), and the manner in which and the time and place at which the examination and sampling shall be carried out.

[Section 26 (5)(a) substituted by section 12 of Act No. 10 of 1979]

(b) The provisions of section 25(1) and (3) shall mutatis mutandis apply with reference to such examination and sampling and the analysis of such sample.

 

(6)
(a) The provisions of this section shall not apply with reference to the importation of plants and propagating material intended for purposes other than cultivation or for immediate export.
(b) The person importing plants or propagating material in terms of paragraph (a) shall, prior to or on arrival thereof in the Republic, furnish to the registrar a declaration to that effect in the prescribed manner.

[Section 26 (6) substituted by section 22(d) of Act No. 25 of 1996]

 

(7) If plants and propagating material have been imported contrary to the provisions of this section, the registrar may—
(a) in accordance with the election of the importer, order that the plants or propagating material in question shall within the period determined by the registrar—
(i) be destroyed without compensation; or
(ii) be removed from the Republic at the expense of the importer; or
(b) permit the disposal thereof in the Republic in such manner and on such conditions as he may determine.