ABSTRACT
The new legislation would regulate hours of work and provide for health, safety, and welfare of plantation workers. The legislation called Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954 was enacted for this purpose. The state governments are responsible for the enforcement of registration, legislation, and acts for pesticides. The Maximum residual level (MRL) for different pesticides is prescribed under the PFA Act. Tolerance levels have not been fixed under the PFA Act for many pesticides which have been approved for use in the country. 165 pesticides are approved for use, but tolerance levels for only 71 pesticides have been notified under Rule 65 of the PFA Rules. There are pesticides which were approved before 1971 and for which no data are available for assessing risk from the point of view of food safety and for fixing MRL. These pesticides are referred to as “deemed pesticides” and are not included under the PFA Act.
