Section 8: Licensing of substances and preparations listed in Second and Third

8. Licensing of substances and preparations listed in Second and Third Schedules (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall cultivate, produce, manufacture, trade by wholesale or retail, distribute, or use any of the plants, substances and preparations listed in the Second and Third Schedules unless he is expressly licensed for that purpose, and no person shall do so at any establishment or on any premises not expressly licensed for that purpose. (2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to State-owned enterprises specially authorised in writing by the Minister or to their employees acting in that capacity. (3) (a) Any person who wishes to engage in the operations mentioned in subsection (1) shall make an application on the prescribed form to the Permanent Secretary. (b) The Permanent Secretary shall, on receipt of an application, verify the character and professional qualifications of the applicant and of any person responsible for carrying out the obligations laid down in this Act and in the licence and may, subject to subsections (2) and (6), grant the licence. (c) A licence issued under this subsection shall indicate the substances and preparations involved in the authorised activity, the quantities that may be involved, the form of bookkeeping required, and all other obligations which the licensee must fulfill. (4) (a) Any person who wishes to use all or part of the establishments and premises of licensed private enterprises or specially authorised State enterprises for the production, manufacture, wholesale trading and distribution, international trading, or use of the plants, substances and preparations listed in the Second and Third Schedules shall make an application on the prescribed form to the Permanent Secretary. [Issue 1] D2 – 6 Revised Laws of Mauritius (b) The Permanent Secretary may, on receipt of an application and after verifying that the establishments and premises, or parts thereof to be used, comply with the security standards established by the Ministry, grant the licence. (5) Every licence issued under this section shall indicate upon its face its period of validity. (6) The Permanent Secretary may revoke or suspend a licence for any period not exceeding 6 months, in the event of irregularities in the exercise of the authorised activity, of particular breaches of the obligations laid down in the licence or of negligence on the part of the staff, or if the relevant application for the licence contained an inaccurate statement of fact. (7) No licence shall be issued to any person convicted of an offence under this Act and any licence purporting to be issued to such a person shall be null and void. (8) Where any person who has been issued with a licence under this section is convicted of an offence under this Act, the Permanent Secretary shall forthwith withdraw and cancel the licence. (9) Where any person who has been issued with a licence under this section is charged with an offence under this Act, the Permanent Secretary may, in his discretion, suspend the operation of the licence until the final determination of the charge by a Court of law.