§ Mr. Beithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, following his consultations with the Danish Minister of Agriculture in Copenhagen, he has been able to establish why the loss of 80 barrels of weedkiller from the Dana Optima on 13 January did not become known to the Government for over a week.
§ Mr. MacGregorIt seems likely that the nature of the chemicals lost overboard did not become clear to the Danish authorities until some time after the Dana Optima docked. On 17 January they circulated an initial report to the marine pollution control unit of the Department of Transport under the arrangements for communicating information on incidents provided through the Bonn agreement. However, as the chemical concerned could not be positively identified from the information given, clarification was requested from the Danish authorities on 18 January. Full details were not received until 23 January when a warning was issued to fishermen.
§ Mr. Beithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he has made to monitor the effects of the loss of a substantial quantity of the chemical, dinoseb, in the North sea from the Dana Optima on 13 January.
§ Mr. MacGregorI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.