§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research he has(a) commenced and (b) evaluated on the number of farmers who have contracted illness as a result of exposure to organophosphate pesticides. [38230]
§ Mr. RookerThe Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Pesticide Incidents Appraisal Panel (PIAP) considers all investigated incidents where the use of a pesticide (controlled under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986) may have affected the health of the user or a member of the public nearby. The Panel is chaired by a doctor, its members being drawn from the HSE, the Department of Health, and the National Poisons Information Service.
PIAP assesses all information from investigations by HSE and local authorities, with any additional material from the National Health Service or others involved. The incidents are classified according to the likelihood of the ill-health being linked to the pesticide exposure and an annual report is published.
The Suspected Adverse Reaction Surveillance Scheme (SARSS) is a voluntary reporting scheme for monitoring animal and human suspected adverse reactions (SARs) to all veterinary medicinal products. Farmers, doctors, veterinary surgeons and members of the public are encouraged to report any SAR involving a veterinary medicine to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). Marketing authorisation holders are required to send reports of SARs to the VMD. Human SARs are considered by the Appraisal Panel for Human Suspected Adverse Reactions to Veterinary Medicines and reported to the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC). The reports of the Appraisal Panel are published and copies are available in the Library of the House.