§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list those companies known to his Department to be currently producing products in which tributyl tin compounds are involved at some stage in the production process or the finished article;
(2) if he will provide figures relating to the scale of use of tributyl tin compounds in those products affected by his recent proposals for a ban on sales with the total current use of those compounds for all products in Britain;
(3) what information he has on the current uses of tributyl tin compounds in Britain and on those uses which he expects will be affected by his recent proposals on their sale for paint products;
405W(4) what information he has on scale of use of tributyl tin compounds in Britain, in total and by product type, for the latest year for which figures are available;
(5) if he will now make it his policy to ban the wholesale availability and use of tributyl tin compounds in Britain.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI understand that less than 1,000 tonnes of tributyltin (TBT) compounds are used annually in the United Kingdom. Most of this is formulated into anti-fouling paint, 10 to 20 per cent. is used in timber treatment and less than 5 per cent. is used for other purposes. TBT products used as pesticides must be approved under the provisions of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 and anti-fouling products will have to be so approved from 1 July 1987. Copies of the list of approved products are available in the Library. All registered products give the active ingredient on their labels together with the manufacturer's name. The information available does not justify a ban on all uses of TBT. The bans which I announced on 24 February, at c.202–3, are specific and are justified by the evidence of damage to the aquatic environment from the use of TBT in anti-fouling paints used on small boats and its use in treating fish farming equipment.