§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he has taken to prepare British enterprises for the introduction of EC environmental auditing standards.
§ Mr. EggarA proposal for an EC regulation which would introduce a voluntary environmental management and auditing scheme is presently under discussion by the EC Environment Council. The proposal, which has been the subject of extensive consultation with United Kingdom business, would permit appropriate industry standards for environmental management to be used as a basis for the scheme.
In the United Kingdom, the British Standards Institution is currently piloting such a standard, BS7750, among some 150 businesses including a number of small firms. My Department has also initiated or participated in a number of seminars to alert businesses to the provisions of the EC scheme and the existence of BS7750.