§ Lord Mancroftasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the most recent advice they have received from the Veterinary Products Committee on the continued use of organophosphorus sheep dips.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Howe)The Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) has carefully and thoroughly examined all issues surrounding the use of OP dips. They have found that there is no evidence to support either a ban or suspension on the use of OP dips when used correctly. Nevertheless the Government and the VPC have to treat with the utmost seriousness any suggestion of potential harm to human health. We are therefore taking clear and positive steps, in a carefully planned and organised way, to restrict their availability. A useful analogy to our approach is that used with regard to pesticides.
The Veterinary Products Committee gave further consideration to the future licensing of organophosphorus sheep dip products at its meeting on 21 October 1993 and confirmed its report at its meeting on 25 November.
Organophosphorus sheep dips are highly effective weapons in our fight to ensure that the United Kingdom's 40 million sheep are properly protected from harmful disease, and we welcome the Veterinary Products Committee's clear advice following their meetings that the marketing of these dips can continue. Over the last eight years there have been 529 cases of reported human ill health associated with sheep dip exposure. The committee found that in the majority of cases where information was available the full recommended protective clothing had not been worn or properly used. The number of reported adverse reactions must be seen in the context of over a million occasions when flocks—involving hundreds of millions of sheep—were dipped during that eight-year period. We are disappointed that notwithstanding the publicity drive we have carried out since the committee's report in April, many sheep dippers are still failing to take the necessary precautions. The committee has therefore recommended the introduction of a new certificate of competence, which would mean in future that only dippers who hold such certificates would be allowed to buy these dips.