Hazardous Products (Legislation) (Hansard, 3 May 1973)

§ 4. Mr. Wiggin
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation on the line of the Canadian Hazardous Products Act and similar United States legislation.

§ Mr. Lane
I should prefer to await the outcome of the present discussions within the EEC on a draft directive dealing comprehensively with the labelling of household products.

§ Mr. Wiggin
Is my hon. Friend aware that under the Canadian legislation it is possible for that country to prohibit by order the sale and advertising of hazardous products, such as children's seat belts and special car seats which, when fitted in a motor car, prove hazardous, although they are legal? Will he confer with his hon. Friends in other Departments to see whether legislation can be brought in to prevent the sale and advertising of these products?

§ Mr. Lane
Certainly. The instances which my hon. Friend gave of car seats and seat belts are matters for the Department of the Environment. We consult that Department. We have also been in touch with the Canadian Government about the way in which their Act is working in practice, and we shall take advantage of their experience.

§ Mrs. Sally Oppenheim
Does my hon. Friend not agree that the Hazardous Products (Uniform Labelling) Bill, which I sought to introduce last Session, is now overdue and urgently needed, and that if the relevant EEC directive is unduly delayed my Bill should be reintroduced as a matter of urgency? As soon as he is appointed the Director-General of Fair Trading should be asked to co-ordinate all matters of health and safety about consumer products.

§ Mr. Lane
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her continued pressure on this aspect of the problem. We are likewise trying to keep up the pressure in the working group within the EEC. Its directive will not be too long delayed. If my hon. Friend wishes to reintroduce her Bill, of course she can.

§ Mr. Heffer
Will the Minister explain why we have to wait for the working group of the EEC? Have we reached the stage where we cannot take decisions on our own on important matters of this kind? If that is the situation, the Government must think again.

§ Mr. Lane
That is not the situation at all. We are naturally playing our full part in the working party within the EEC, but we are not neglecting the situation in this country. We continue to produce regulations under the Consumer Protection Act 1961 over a wide range of matters. If it is necessary to do something urgent under that Act, of course we shall.