§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will withdraw clearance for use under the pesticides safety precautions scheme of the substances difenacoum and brodifenacoum until such time as their effect on barn owl population has been determined;
(2) what studies his Department has received from pesticide manufacturers or others into the effects of difenacoum and brodifenacoum on non-target species, and in particular upon barn owls.
§ Mrs. FennerBefore any rodenticide is cleared under the pesticides safety precautions scheme, notifiers must supply data on studies of toxicity to non-target species including wildlife populations. These data are then scrutinised by Government experts and by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, its scientific sub-committee and its specialist environmental panel. Only when this examination of the data has satisfied Government Departments that, provided the recommended precautions are followed, the product can be used with minimal risk to wildlife, is the product cleared for use in the United Kingdom. All clearances are kept under review and can be withdrawn or amended in the light of new evidence of risk.
Both difenacoum and brodifenacoum have been scrutinised in this way. The possibility of a risk to predators, such as owls, from th persistence of brodifenacoum in rodent carcases was identified, and this is why brodifenacoum has commercial clearance for indoor use only, pending further data from small-scale trials.
As part of its continuous surveillance of pesticides use, my Department operates a wildlife incident investigation scheme under which all reported incidents of suspected pesticide poisoning of wildlife are investigated. The results are taken into account in the review of clearances. No incidents linking barn owl deaths in the United Kingdom with the use of difenacoum or brodifenacoum have been reported. There have been reports of owl deaths in Malaysia associated with the widespread outdoor use of difenacoum and brodifenacoum, but the circumstances of this use are radically different from those which pertain in the United Kingdom. If the hon. Member receives evidence of any United Kingdom incidents, I should be glad of details. In the meantime, there seems no reason to withdraw the relevant clearances.