§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the latest position in those Committees of the European Commission which are considering European legislation which may threaten the survival of the British lettuce growing industry.
Lord LucasDiscussions on the EU proposals to set limits for nitrate in lettuce have been held in abeyance pending the opinion of the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) on the toxicology of nitrate. The SCF has very recently reaffirmed its Acceptable Daily Intake for nitrate set in 1990, but it considered that it has insufficient information to judge whether setting maximum limits on nitrate levels in certain vegetables would have significant effect on overall intakes. The SCF is aware that the current survey of dietary nitrate intake in the framework of Scientific Co-operation may provide more information. The UK will be pressing the Commission to await the outcome of this study before it restarts discussions on the proposed regulations.
We continue to oppose the Commission's proposals on the grounds that there is no scientific evidence that they would improve safety of food for the UK consumer. In addition, the proposals would have a very damaging impact on our domestic producers. Most other member states take a different view but we continue to seek to persuade them of the merits of the UK case.