§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish full details of his Department's assessment of the compliance costs for small businesses in general, and dry cleaning businesses in particular, of commitments undertaken as part of the Montreal agreement on chlorofluorocarbons; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. YeoEconomic assessments under the Montreal protocol were carried out by the protocol economics options committee in 1989 and 1991. I am placing copies of these reports in the Library of the House.
My Department works closely with the Department of Trade and Industry and the relevant trade associations on this issue. Last year the Department of the Environment commissioned a study of the use of CFCs in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry in the United Kingdom which looked, inter alia, at small businesses. This was the sister study to the Department of Trade and Industry commissioned report on solvent-using industries, including dry cleaning. Copies of both reports are in the Library of the House. Costs to small businesses must be expected to vary widely depending on the solution chosen and the particular circumstances involved.