§ Mr. Freemanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the Government will introduce legislation to require that all medicines and tablets have an expiry date stamp for their usage.
§ Mr. John PattenCurrent regulations require an expiry date to be shown on the labels of medicines that should be used within three years of manufacture. An EC directive of 26 October 1983 requires arrangements to be made for the expiry date to feature in plain language on the labels of all proprietary medicinal products. This will apply first to new products and later to those already on the market. We will be considering tie most suitable means of complying with these requirements. Any consequential regulations will require consultation with the industry and other interested organisations.