§ Mr. Farrasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the regulation of the use of pesticides foreshadowed in the second report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.
§ Mr. PriorThe Advisory Committee on Pesticides and Other Toxic Chemicals, which was invited to consider the Royal Commission's recommendations on pesticides, tells me that the Pesticides Safety Precautions Scheme is now working so effectively to ensure safe use of pesticides in agriculture, food storage and related areas that legislation is not at present required. In the light of this, the Royal Commission has advised me that it would not wish to press for the immediate introduction of legislation although it maintains, as a matter of principle, that it should not be ruled out as the ultimate sanction to control those substances which, when misused, can harm—and in its view have harmed—the environment. I therefore do not propose to introduce legislation at this stage.
Any future need for legislation would be reported to me by the advisory committee and I have asked it to have special regard to two possible contingencies foreseen by the Government and the Royal Commission. These are that legislation could prove essential if the voluntary scheme lost any of its present effectiveness or if there were new technological developments for which voluntary control would not be appropriate.
I might add that the advisory committee has also expressed the view that the Government should consider the provision of appropriate controls over uses of pesticides outside agriculture and food storage. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is arranging a study of the matter, and the Royal Commission has welcomed this decision.