Food and Drugs (Amendment) Bill (Hansard, 29 June 1982)

§ Lord Northfield
My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Darling of Hillsborough, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time.

§ Lord Mottistone
My Lords, I should like, briefly, to wish this Bill well and to say that I trust the Government will take note that overdue is a parallel bit of enactment relating to private defences which measure up to the increased penalties which are in the Bill. I hope we shall not have long to wait before we see some action by the Government on that score. In the meantime, I hope that this Bill will be successful.

§ Lord Sandys
My Lords, this gives me the opportunity from these Benches to congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Northfield, and, through him, the sponsor of the Bill, Lord Darling of Hillsborough, on bringing the Bill before this House and carrying it through its stages so successfully. My noble friend behind me has drawn the attention of the House to the discussions which we had in Committee. Perhaps I may be permitted to remind my noble friend Lord Mottistone of my remarks in col. 445 of the Official Report of 11th June, when I said: The Government remain of the view that it would have been preferable to provide for a due diligence defence. They therefore intend to re-open consultation on this issue when the next opportunity arises for a review of the food and drugs legislation". That said, I should like to add once more the good wishes of the Government to the noble Lord, Lord Darling of Hillsborough, on his successful work in this field which brings forward a measure which adds to a very long history of consumer legislation in this field dating back to the very earliest Parliaments.

§ Lord Northfield
My Lords, I am grateful for what both noble Lords, particularly the noble Lord on the Front Bench, have said. I shall see that his remarks are passed on to my noble friend Lord Darling of Hillsborough, who cannot be here today. On the specific point which the noble Lord on the Front Bench raised, I am aware of what was said in Committee. It should be put on record that the noble Lord, Lord Mottistone, did not have universal support for the point which he raised and that, in addition to the suggestion of a Government review of these matters, my noble friend suggested that there could possibly be a review of the problem by the Law Commission. I hope, if I may say so on my noble friend's behalf, that that point will also be borne in mind as a possible way forward on the point raised by the noble Lord. Meanwhile, I am grateful once again for the kind remarks. I hope that the Bill can now proceed on its way to the statute book.