§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the average length of time currently taken to register new pesticides in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) West Germany.
§ Mr. MacleanIn the United Kingdom an application for registration of a new pesticide active ingredient has currently to wait approximately three and a half years before full evaluation can start. The time taken for evaluation will vary according to the nature of the ingredient and the quality of the application.
On 3 April 1990 my right hon. Friend the Minister announced several measures to accelerate the throughput of new active ingredients, including a 60 per cent. increase in the number of scientists working on registration in 1990–91.
I have no comparable information on registration times in France and West Germany.