Pesticides (Hansard, 19 May 1998)

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what statutory provision currently covers usage of pesticides on land. [41929]

§ Mr. Rooker
The current statutory controls over the use of pesticides on land in the United Kingdom are:

The Food and Environment Protection Act 1985;

The Pesticides (Fees and Enforcement) Act 1989;

The Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 (as amended);

The Plant Protection Products Regulations 1995 (as amended); and

The Plant Protection Products (Basic Conditions) Regulations 1997.

In particular, the legislation provides that only pesticides that have been approved by Ministers may be used.
Advice on how users can meet their responsibilities under the legislation is given in the statutory 'Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Pesticides on Farms and Holdings', which is jointly produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Health and Safety Executive.

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the three most commonly used pesticides currently applied to land in the United Kingdom. [41933]

§ Mr. Rooker
The three most commonly used pesticides applied to land in the United Kingdom in 1997 wereBy spray area (i.e. area of land times number of treatments):

Isoproturon: 3.00 million hectares

Chlormequat: 2.53 million hectares

Cypermethrin: 2.51 million hectares

By weight:

Sulphuric acid: 13,348 tonnes

Isoproturon: 3,312 tonnes

Chlormequat: 2,637 tonnes.

344W

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will assess the advantages of introducing separate regulation for food produced from land treated with pesticides; and if he will make a statement. [41936]

§ Mr. Rooker
Pesticides are used on over 98 per cent. of the agricultural and horticultural land on which food crops are grown. Land on which pesticides are not used and which conforms to other relevant standards can, if not already registered, be registered as organic. We do not see a need for further regulation in this area.