§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the evidence which his veterinary products committee considered prior to giving approval to give a product licence to Nuvan; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonExtensive data regarding safety, quality and efficacy were provided by the manufacturer of Aquagard in accordance with the requirements of article 5 of directive 81/851/EEC and directive 81/852/EEC governing product licence applications. In addition, since Aquagard is necessarily released into the marine environment the VPC considered all available data relating to the dispersion of dichlorvos and its effects on marine life.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what factors he took into account in granting a product licence for Aquaguard sea lice treatment; and if he will make a statement;
(2) whether he took account of the red list status of the active ingredient dichlorvos when granting a product licence for Aquaguard sea lice treatment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe factors to be taken into account before granting a product licence are set out in the Medicines Act 1968. The recommendation that I received from the veterinary products committee about Aquaguard took into account the reasons underlying the inclusion of dichlorvos in the Department of the Environment's provisional red list and the need for appropriate safeguards on use and disposal.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has imposed conditions and restrictions on the use of Aquaguard sea lice treatment in granting a product licence; and whether he will place a copy of the product data sheet in the Library.
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§ Mr. Donald ThompsonI will be arranging to deposit a copy in the Library of the House when available.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish the data supplied in support of the product licence application for Aquaguard sea lice treatment by his Department, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and Ciba-Geigy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland intends to publish later this year the results of studies into the toxicity of dichlorvos to fish and lobster larvae which were undertaken in concert with my Department and Ciba-Geigy and considered by the VPC along with other data when assessing the product licence application for Aquaguard.