§ Sir John Farrasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the operation 534W of the pesticides safety precautions scheme and the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986; and if he will give his assessment of whether the 1986 regulations are working effectively.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonI have been asked to reply.
The pesticides safety precautions scheme was replaced on 6 October 1986 by the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986. These regulations are coming into operation over several years and it will not be possible to assess their effectiveness fully until they have been in force for some time. However, I believe that there has been a high level of compliance with those regulations which are already in place, which have limited sale, supply and use of home-produced and imported pesticides to approved products, imposed new controls on aerial spraying, arid led to additional information being given in advertisements for pesticides.
In addition, the Advisory Committee for Pesticides has been given statutory authority and its advisory panels opened to both sides of industry. Antifouling paints have been brought within the scope of the regulations from 1 July 1987. Companies submitting new pesticides for approval must now establish efficacy and, where appropriate, humaneness, and co-operate in the preparation of publicly available evaluations of safety and efficacy data. The existence of the regulations has also greatly facilitated recent control actions against certain pesticides which cause concern on both health and environmental grounds, and there has been an important increase in the training of pesticide operators and distributors in anticipation of the certification deadlines established under the regulations. Further regulations have been proposed to limit pesticide residues in crops, food and feedingstuffs.