HC Deb 02 February 1984 vol 53 cc326-7W
Mr. Skeet

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the statutory instruments he has made listing chemicals approved for crop spraying by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Mr. David Mitchell

I have been asked to reply.

Article 40 of the Air Navigation Order 1980 states that crops may not be sprayed from aircraft otherwise than under, and in accordance with, the terms of an aerial application certificate granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. The authority is empowered to impose such conditions as it thinks fit, including conditions for ensuring that the aircraft and anything dropped from it does not endanger persons or property in the aircraft or elsewhere. These conditions, which do not require the approval of the Secretary of State for Transport, include requirements relating to the certificate holder's aerial application manual, which must contain instructions concerning pre-flight reconnaissance; prior notification of various persons (including as far as is practicable the occupants of buildings and the owners, or their agents, of livestock or susceptible crops on land adjoining the areas to be treated); and the provision of ground staff to warn members of the public. It is a further requirement that only substances approved for aerial application under the pesticides safety precautions scheme may be used.

The authority has all the powers it needs to monitor compliance with these requirements. It receives few complaints about spraying operations: only about 130 a year—less than one for every 1,100 operations flown.

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