§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department takes to ensure that produce from other EEC states which has been treated with chemicals banned in the United Kingdom does not enter the United Kingdom market; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderThe United Kingdom now has over 1,000 statutory pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs) under the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Food) Regulations 1988. Some of these MRLs are set at levels designed to preclude use of certain pesticides and they apply to imported as well as home-produced food and crops. Other member states, like the United Kingdom, are free to approve pesticides not already banned in all member states under directive 79/117/EEC. Many pesticides approved for use here and elsewhere do not give rise to residues in food. However, if imported food were thought likely to contain undesirable residues of pesticides not approved in the United Kingdom, appropriate MRLs could be introduced and enforced under the regulations.