HL Deb 20 March 1980 vol 407 cc435-6

Lord HOUGHTON of SOWER BY asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the testing of toxicity of oral diquat in cynomolgus monkeys at the Huntingdon Research Centre, Cambridge by Leon M. Cobb and Pat Grimshaw and published in 1979 now completes the study in which methods for the prophylaxis of diquat poisoning have been investigated during the past 10 years; and, if so, whether further acute toxicological studies of diquat herbicide will now cease.

Lord BELSTEAD

We are not in a position to say whether studies of methods for the prophylaxis of diquat poisoning are completed. This is a matter for those conducting such research. Under new arrangements being introduced on 30th April 1980, all those wishing to perform experiments on primates under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 will require special authority in accordance with Recommendation 5 of the LD50 Report by the former Advisory Committee on the Administration of the 1876 Act.