§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate she has made of the effect the liberalisation of trade under the new GATT regime will have on the amount of fruit and vegetables entering the United Kingdom contaminated with pesticide residues.
§ Mr. JackWe expect imports of fruit and vegetables to continue to comply with our pesticide residues requirements. The food industry has been reminded of the need to ensure that residues comply with our statutory requirements.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many consignments of fruit and vegetables were refused entry at United Kingdom ports in 1993 because they contain excess levels of pesticides and preservatives.
§ Mr. JackIn 1993, our monitoring of imported fruit and vegetables, including enforcement monitoring of imported oranges, indicated that residue levels were sufficiently low and that the imports were acceptable. Consequently, none were refused entry.
42W
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps her Department is taking to ensure that imports of fruit do not contain levels of pesticides and preservatives exceeding the maximum residue level.
§ Mr. JackOne of the purposes of the surveillance monitoring programme which is carried out by the Government's working party on pesticide residues is to check that imported food complies with statutory maximum residue levels contained in the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Food) Regulations 1988. The latest results, which are made available in full each year, were published on 18 January. Where surveillance shows that imported food does not comply with statutory limits, enforcement action may be taken at ports or within the UK.