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Measure

Powers in relation to articles unlawfully imported or presenting risk

Type Class Valid From Valid To
General Goods 27/10/2008
Summary:

If a plant quarantine officer finds that an imported regulated article violates Namibian regulations or poses a pest risk, they can direct the importer to treat, remove, or destroy it. In urgent cases, the officer may skip the notice and directly handle the destruction, with costs borne by the importer and no liability for the State or officers.
Description:

8. (1) If, upon inspection of any regulated article imported, a plant quarantine officer ascertains or suspects on reasonable grounds that it has been imported into Namibia in contravention of this Act or that it presents any risk for the importation and spread of any pest, the plant quarantine officer may, by notice in writing served on the importer or person in charge of the regulated article, direct the importer or that person -

(a) to treat or otherwise deal with the regulated article in a manner and within the period specified in the notice in order to remove the risk;
(b) to remove the regulated article from Namibia in the manner and within the period specified in the notice; or
(c) to destroy or otherwise dispose of the regulated article at a place, in the manner and within the period specified in the notice.

(2) A plant quarantine officer may dispense with the notice referred to in subsection (1) if, in the officer’s opinion, the destruction of the regulated article is urgently required or the giving of the notice is impracticable, and the officer may -

(a) instruct the importer or other person in charge of the article to destroy it or cause it to be destroyed to the satisfaction of the officer; or
(b) if the instruction given under paragraph (a) is not carried out, destroy the article himself or herself or cause it to be destroyed.

(3) The costs and responsibility for any action taken under subsection (2) must be borne by the importer and any costs incurred by or on the instruction of a plant quarantine officer in connection with any such action may be recovered from the importer as a debt owing to the State.

(4) Neither the State, nor the Minister or a plant quarantine officer is liable for any damage or loss suffered because of the destruction or disposal of any regulated article in terms of this section.

Commodities Affected by the Measure

# HS Code Description
1 1701 Cane or beet sugar in solid form
2 2008 Fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants otherwise prepared of preserved
3 2401 Unmanufactured tobacco; tobacco refuse
4 1201 Soya beans, whether or not broken
5 1202 Ground-nuts, not roasted or otherwise cooked, whether or not shelled or broken
6 1203 Copra
7 1204 Linseed, whether or not broken
8 1205 Rape or colza seed, whether or not broken
9 1209 Seeds, fruits and spores, of a kind used for sowing
10 1210 Hop cones, fresh or dried, whether or not ground, powdered or in form pellets; lupulin
11 0601 Bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, corms, crowns and rhizomes, dormant, in growth or in flower: chicory plants and roots (excluding roots of heading)
12 0602 Other live plants (including their roots), cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn
13 0603 Cut flowers and flower buds of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared
14 0604 Foliage, branches and other parts of plants, without flowers or flower buds, and grasses, mosses and lichens being goods of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared
15 2001 Vegetables, fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid
16 2002 Tomatoes prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid
17 2003 Mushrooms and truffles, prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid
18 2004 Other vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, frozen (excluding products of heading 20.06
19 2005 Other vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen (excluding products of heading 20.06)
20 2006 Vegetables, fruit, nuts, fruit-peel and other parts of plants, preserved by sugar (drained, glacé or crystallised)
21 2007 Jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, fruit or nut purée and fruit or nut pastes, obtained by cooking, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter
22 2008 Fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or spirit, not elsewhere specified or r included
23 2009 Fruit or nut juices (including grape must and coconut water) and vegetable juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter
24 1507 Soya-bean oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
25 1508 Ground-nut oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
26 4410 Particle board, oriented strand board (OSB) and similar board (for example, waferboard) of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not agglomerated with resins or other organic binding substances
27 4411 Fibreboard of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not bonded with resins or other organic substances
28 4412 Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood
29 4413 Densified wood, in blocks, plates, strips or profile shapes
30 4415 Packing cases, boxes, crates, drums and similar packings, of wood; cable-drums of wood; pallets, box pallets and other load boards, of wood; pallet collars of wood
31 4418 Builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels, assembled flooring panels, shingles and shakes

Procedures Implementing the Measure

1 Procedure for applying for the import permit of plants and plant products
Activity Outcome Valid For Single Use
Import Import permit 3 Months No
2 Procedure for applying for transit permits of plants and plants products.
Activity Outcome Valid For Single Use
Transit Transit permit 21 Days No

Legal Documents Related to the Measure

Name Type Category
Promulgation of Plant Quarantine Act, 2008 (Act No. 7 of 2008) of the Parliament Act Import/Export