Dr. ThomasTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's policy as regards the control of pesticide residues in foodstuffs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanThe Government operate a rigorous statutory registration procedure, backed up by continuous monitoring to ensure that any pesticide residues in foodstuffs are at entirely safe levels.
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Dr. ThomasTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is being taken by his Department to reduce the amount of(a) organophosphates, (b) methyl bromide and (c) ethylene bisdithiocarbamate present in foodstuffs (i) domestically produced and (ii) imported into the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MacleanMaximum residue limits have been set for all these substances under the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Food) Regulations 1988, which apply equally to imported and to home-grown produce.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's policy in respect of the incidence of the fungicides dithane, manzate, mancozeb and dinoseb in foodstuffs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanDithane and manzate contain ingredients such as mancozeb which belong to the group of fungicides known as ethylene bisdithiocarbamates (EBDCs) which are under review by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. The committee published an interim report in January; it concluded that intakes of EBDC and their breakdown products were at safe levels for all age groups and extreme consumers.
Dinoseb was reviewed by the committee in 1987, as a result of which all approvals for its marketing and use have been revoked.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's policy in respect of the safety in foodstuffs of the fungicides captan, benomyl and chlorothalonil; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanAll these substances are currently under review by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made on achieving common European residue levels for chemical residues in foodstuffs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanThe European Community has partially harmonised standards for maximum pesticide residue levels and for contaminants which may arise from materials and articles in contact with food, and is considering further harmonisation in these areas.
The Community will be setting maximum limits for veterinary medicines in foodstuffs of animal origin following the adoption of a framework directive by the Agricultural Council in June.
The European Commission has announced its intention of bringing forward proposals for legislation to establish Community rules on chemical contaminants in food not already covered by other Community legislation.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has to reduce the levels of chemical residues in foodstuffs entering the United Kingdom from(a) European Community countries and (b) third-world countries.
§ Mr. MacleanChemical residues in foodstuffs, both imported and home grown, are continuously monitored to ensure high standards of safety for consumers.