Wildlife and Countryside

Environment and Rural Affairs Department

NOTICE UNDER SECTION 26(5) OF THE WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT 1981

ORDER RELATING TO THE POSSESSION OF PESTICIDES CONTAINING CERTAIN ACTIVE INGREDIENTS

Notice is hereby given under section 26(5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 that the Scottish Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 15A of that Act, have made an Order relating to the possession of pesticides containing certain active ingredients.

The Order (“The Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005”) prescribes a list of certain types of ingredients of pesticides for the purposes of section 15A of the 1981 Act. Possession of a pesticide containing an ingredient of a type prescribed in the Order is an offence under section 15A(1) of the 1981 Act unless the possessor has a lawful excuse (see section 15A(2) of the 1981 Act). A person shall not be guilty of an offence if he or she can show that possession of the pesticide was for the purpose of use in accordance with its approval conditions.

The prescribed types of ingredient are aldicarb, alphachloralose, aluminium phosphide, bendiocarb, carbofuran, mevinphos, sodium cyanide and strychnine. These are the active ingredients which are most commonly found to be used in poisoning incidents involving birds of prey and other wildlife.

A person guilty of possession without lawful excuse shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000), or to both.

A copy of the Order is being placed in the Scottish Executive Library, K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD (Tel: 0131 244 4564) for inspection, free of charge, by members of the public during office hours.

The Order comes into force on 14 March 2005.

Malcolm MacPherson

The Scottish Executive, Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Agricultural Pests, Pollution and Pesticides, Area 1-B, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY. Tel: 0131 244 6358; Fax: 0131 244 6509. E-mail: malcolm.macpherson@scotland.gsi.gov.uk