ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: The Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock has completed draft amendments in two major laws - Seed Act 1976, and Agricultural Pesticide Ordinance - for approval by the National Assembly in January to meet the requirement of the WTO regime.

The amendments are aimed at preparing the country's agriculture sector for challenges of the WTO regime with effect from Jan 1, 2005. A new law, "Fertilizer Regulatory Act, 2004", is also under consideration. The ministry has arranged a meeting of all the stakeholders on Dec 7 to elicit their responses in connection with the new act.

In the absence of any law to regulate marketing of fertilizer, about 100,000 tons of fake DAP are believed to be sold in various markets every year owing to which the production of crops especially wheat had been damaged considerably, sources said.

The views of provinces have already been sought regarding the introduction of the act, which would impose up to Rs1 million fine and six-month rigorous imprisonment on those who were found guilty of selling fake fertilizers, they said.

Elaborating amendments in the Seed Act, sources said, the changes were aimed at encouraging the production of quality indigenous hybrid seeds and safeguarding the copy rights of the companies involved in agricultural research. The amended law would also provide protection to the interests of the foreign companies involved in the seed business in the country.

They said the positive points of the amendments included the induction of fake seeds-related clauses. The clauses would check the marketing and selling of the substandard seeds, besides, rules and regulation pertaining to processing and storage of seeds.

The punishment for those who committed selling of substandard seeds have been increased from the previous Rs500 fine to penalty ranging between Rs50,000 to Rs1 million, sources said. The registration of the companies, involved in the business of phony seeds, could also be cancelled, they said.