§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will seek with his EEC counterparts a ban by the EEC on the manufacture, sale and export of all skin lightening soaps and creams; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ButcherWe shall inform the Commission of the EC that we have banned exports from the United Kingdom of soap containing mercury salts, and that we are suggesting that exports from the United Kingdom of skin-lightening creams should meet the same conditions as are required for sale within the EC. It will be for the Commission, in consultation with member states, to consider what action should be taken by the EC collectively.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will arrange for health warnings to be displayed on all skin-lightening soaps and creams sold in, and exported from, the United Kingdom, and if he will list the brand names of such products and the British companies by which they are manufactured.
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§ Mr. ButcherWe are stopping the export from the United Kingdom to the Third world of soap containing mercury salts. Skin-lightening creams containing hydro-quinone with a maximum concentration of 2 per cent. may be sold within the EC, provided certain warnings are clearly displayed. We shall ask industry in the United Kingdom to limit the hydroquinone content to 2 per cent. and to put the same warnings on these products when they are exported outside the EC.