§ Mr. Bodyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether it is the practice of his Department to 119W inquire whether pesticides imported into the United Kingdom are prohibited from being used in the exporting country.
§ Mrs. FennerIt is not the practice of my Department to base decisions on clearance for the marketing of pesticides in this country on the decisions of other countries. Applicants for clearance are required to submit data on many facets of pesticide safety, as applicable to United Kingdom use; these requirements are set out in the pesticides safety precautions scheme (PSPS) which is available in the Library of the House. Additionally, the scientific assessors of the nine Government Departments and agencies involved in the PSPS have contacts throughout the world and take account of all the scientific evidence on the safety of pesticides available to them.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will describe the process of testing a new pesticide for approval by the advisory committee on pesticides; and if he will describe what arrangements are made to monitor the effects of commercial use after approval.
§ Mrs. FennerThere are many detailed tests covering various aspects of pesticide safety which must be undertaken in support of a notification for clearance considered by the advisory committee on pesticides. These are set out in the pesticides safety precautions scheme, which is available in the Library of the House.
Arrangements made to monitor the effects of commercial use include surveys on usage patterns and the continuous monitoring of both home-produced and imported food for residues of pesticides. In addition, reported incidents of suspected poisoning of people, where the commercial use of pesticides may have been involved, are investigated by the Health and Safety Executive, and incidents involving wildlife and other animals are investigated by the wildlife incident investigation scheme.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will describe the typical number and species of animals used as subjects in testing a new pesticide in tests approved by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.
§ Mrs. FennerPesticides notified under the pesticides safety precautions scheme and considered by the advisory committee on pesticides are subject to a variety of tests, some of which require the use of live animals, mainly rats. Full details of all test requirements are in the scheme book, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. The tests are subject to continual review and the requirement to use live animals kept to a minimum consistent with the thorough safety screening of pesticides.