Sperm Oil (Hansard, 28 July 1978)

§ Dr. Gilbert

The Ministry of Defence has been studying since May 1977 the extent to which sperm whale oil has been 951W used in defence products and whether its use could be eliminated without prejudice to operational requirements. During this period discussions have been held with other Government Departments. Officials have also held discussions with representatives of the British Leather Federation, the British Leather Manufacturers Research Association, and many of the major companies in the fuel oil refining and fat liquor manufacturing industries. These discussions have been supplemented by the Department's internal investigation into the practicability of eliminating sperm whale oil from those defence products which were found to contain it.

By March of this year, it had been established that in the field of lubricants oil containing sperm whale oil had been in use by the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield and Royal Artillery units as a lubricant and preservative for certain breech mechanisms, and that Royal ordnance factories had been using it as a cutting oil in the machining of certain equipments. The Materials Quality Assurance Directorate drafted a new specification for these applications which the oil manufacturers have been able to meet by using subsitutes for sperm oil. The Ministry of Defence still has some stocks of oil used in Royal Air Force aircraft gearboxes, but these are being used up as quickly as possible, and by the end of 1978 stocks will consist solely of oil containing substitutes.

Sperm whale oil was found to be more extensively used in leather products purchased by the Ministry of Defence. In February and March of this year, two experts from the contracts and quality assurance branches of the Ministry carried out an investigation in this field. They consulted 27 of the tanners who supply leather to MOD contractors in order to establish which of their products contained sperm whale oil, and which products the firms would regard as those for which sperm whale oil was essential in the tanning process for reasons of quality. The conclusion drawn from this investigation was that all leathers other than calf leathers could be supplied without sperm whale oil being used in he tanning process. The Ministry has now been using for some months a new contractual clause which requires contractors either to certify that sperm whale oil has not been used in the production of the material for the pro- 952W duct, or to seek a waiver if the use of substitutes is impossible or if it would result in unacceptable penalties of quality or price. A copy of this contract clause was put into the Library in response to the Question from my hon. Friend, the Member for West Lothian (Mr. Dalyell) on 25th Jully. The use of sperm oil has been eliminated without difficulty by the leather industry from all defence items other than those for which high quality calf leather is necessary.

The items that require such high quality leather are five types of glove: men and women's dress gloves, combat gloves, MT gloves, sheepskin gloves which are leather faced, and aircrew gloves; lining and ear capsules for aircrew helmets, and a special type of Wellington boot used by the Household Brigade. The Ministry has asked two firms in the tanning trade to produce batches of leather with substitutes, to be made up into gloves by the Ministry's major contractors, and these gloves will then be tested by the Ministry to see whether they represent an acceptable standard of product. The estimated cost of this programme is £8,000. It will take about a year to be completed and for the results to be evaluated.

The Ministry of Defence has been able to make quick progress in the phasing out of sperm whale oil from defence products because of the considerable amount of work already done by United Kingdom industry on substitutes. The leather industry in particular has already put about 25 man/years into research. The Ministry is grateful to the leather and oil industries for the co-operation it has received in ensuring that future requirements of the Services will not be put in jeopardy by unforeseeable reductions in supplies of sperm whale oil or unacceptable increases in its price.