§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will use their single revocation power under European Union Directive 91/414 to allow the honey fungus exterminator, Armillatox, to remain on sale at garden centres throughout the United Kingdom. [HL4171]
§ Lord WhittyIt is for companies that want to sell any pestcide product to show that it is not harmful to human health or to the environment. The point of the EC pesticide review, which we strongly support, is to ensure that all pesticides that continue to be produced commercially have been shown to meet modern standards of human and environmental safety. Armillatox is being withdrawn because no company chose to support tar acids (the active substance in Armillatox) in the EC pesticide review programme. Therefore we cannot be sure that the product meets 97WA modern standards of human and environmental safety. If a company wishes to re-introduce a pesticide that has been withdrawn because it was not supported in the review programme, it can re-apply for approval provided the application is supported by a modern data package.
Armillatox is being withdrawn from the market under a recent EC regulation (EC No. 2076/2002). This is one of a series of regulations made as a result of a major EU review programme of all pesticides used in agricultural and related areas under Directive 91/414/ EEC. Many older products like Armillatox which has been widely used to control honey fungus, were approved on the basis of limited experimental data that do not meet modern standards.