§ Mr. MansTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the recent adoption of the European Commission directive on infant formulae and follow-on formulae.
§ Mr. GummerThe Government voted in favour of the adoption of this important directive. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, and I warmly welcome the essential compositional and nutritional standards which this directive will provide for the first time to safeguard the health and safety of bottle-fed babies. During the negotiations in Brussels the United Kingdom succeeded in obtaining important changes that align the directive more closely with the principles and aims of the World Health Organisation international code on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes. In particular, improvements have been obtained in relation to the advertising controls on infant formulae and to the provisions covering the supply of these products to hospitals.