Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2023)

PART 6
DERATISATION OF SHIPS

26.   Deratisation

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   (1)   On the arrival of a ship from a foreign port at an approved port, the visiting officer shall call for the deratisation certificate or deratisation exemption certificate, and if such certificate is not forthcoming or is no longer valid he or she shall inform the health officer accordingly.

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   (2)   The health officer shall then arrange for the ship to be inspected to ascertain whether it is maintained in such a condition that the number of rats on board is kept down to the minimum, and if he or she is so satisfied, he or she shall sign and issue a deratisation exemption certificate.

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   (3)   If, after the ship has been inspected, the health officer is of the opinion that it is not maintained in such a condition that the number of rats on board is kept down to the minimum, he or she shall order the ship to be deratised in a manner to be specified or approved by him or her, and the master shall make arrangements for the deratisation of the ship to be carried out to the satisfaction of the health officer. After the deratisation is completed to his or her satisfaction, the health officer shall sign and issue a deratisation certificate.

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   (4)   When, in the opinion of the health officer, it is not possible efficiently to carry out deratisation of the ship, because of its cargo or for other reasons, he or she may cause the ship to work in quarantine and he or she shall endorse the time-expired deratisation or deratisation exemption certificate (if there is one) and make an entry in the bill of health to be issued to the ship before it leaves port, to the effect that the ship was inspected and found rat infested but that it was impracticable to carry out deratisation.

27.   Ships arriving with deratisation certificate

A ship arriving from a foreign port and carrying a valid deratisation certificate or deratisation exemption certificate, whether or not it has been granted pratique on arrival, may nevertheless be inspected by or on behalf of the health officer, should the health officer consider such inspection justified, to determine the extent of rat infestation. In exceptional cases and for well founded reasons, which shall be communicated in writing to the master of the ship and to the Quarantine Authority, the health officer may, if the port is an approved port, order the ship to be deratised, despite anything to the contrary in regulations 22 and 30 of these Regulations, and, when deratisation has been completed to his or her satisfaction, he or she shall issue a deratisation certificate.

28.   Form of certificates

Deratisation certificates and deratisation exemption certificates shall be in the form prescribed in Schedule D.

29.   Where ship harbours rats but deratisation not possible

When it is intended to take a ship, which is not infected or suspected, alongside a jetty or quay and the health officer has reason to believe that the ship harbours rats, he or she may, when it is not possible or desirable to undertake deratistation of the ship, order that it be fended off or moored away from the jetty or quay, to a distance of at least 6 feet, that all ropes and hawsers between the ship and the shore are fitted with efficient rat-guards, that between dusk and dawn gangways are drawn up or brilliantly lighted, and that cargo is unloaded in such a manner as to prevent rats gaining access to the shore.

30.   General deratisation measures

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   (1)   Whenever any ship is at a port of Saint Lucia, whether an approved port or not, and the health officer has reason to believe that the number of rats on board is not kept down to a minimum, he or she may require the owner, master or ship's agent to take such steps, under the direction and to the satisfaction of the health officer, as are practicable, in the opinion of the health officer, to secure complete or partial deratisation. However, this regulation shall not apply to ships which are in possession of valid deratisation certificates or valid deratisation exemption certificates.

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   (2)   Without prejudice to the provisions of subregulation (1), masters or owners of coastal vessels and harbour lighters may be required by the Quarantine Authority to deratise them in such manner and at such intervals as the Quarantine Authority may direct, and if any requirement under this subregulation is not complied with, the master and owner commit an offence against these Regulations.