§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what representations her Department has made to the European Commission regarding the impact on users of hearing aids of the proposed Batteries Directive; [171353]
(2) what representations she has received from (a) organisations representing the hard of hearing and (b) manufacturers of batteries regarding the impact on hearing aid users of the proposed Batteries Directive. [171354]
§ Mr. MorleyThe UK Government have made no representation to the European Commission about the impact of the proposed batteries Directive on batteries used in hearing aids. This is because proposals issued by the Commission for a new batteries Directive do not contain any requirement prohibiting the sale of batteries used in hearing aids.
However, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted during their first reading of the proposal on 20 April in favour of an amendment, setting limit values for prohibiting the sale of all batteries that contain more than 5ppm of mercury by weight. The Government understand that because hearing aid batteries may contain more than 5ppm of mercury and 40ppm of lead, by weight, in a zinc air hearing aid battery, there is now concern as to a possible ban. However, the Government have not, as yet, heard from any organisations or manufacturers that may be affected, nor have they heard the reaction of the European Commission to the amendment
It should also be noted that the European Parliament also voted on an amendment to exclude from the controls of the new Directive, batteries and accumulators placed in medical devices; namely, those designed to maintain vital functions, where uninterrupted functioning is essential and the batteries and accumulators can be removed only by qualified personnel. If this amendment were accepted, it would not be clear whether those hearing aid batteries containing more than 5ppm of mercury and 40ppm of lead would be excluded.
HMG believes that the inconsistency between these two amendments is likely to be addressed by the European Parliament in its second reading. If the threshold limits proposed remained in the Directive and 1289W led to the prohibition of batteries contained in hearing aids, or indeed batteries contained in other medical devices, this would be opposed by the UK and, we believe, by other member states also.
§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from manufacturers of batteries regarding the proposed European Batteries Directive. [171356]
§ Mr. MorleyWe have received representation from the British Battery Manufacturers Association (BBMA) and the European Portable Batteries Association (EPBA) who represent all major manufacturers of portable batteries. Also, we have held discussions with Collect Nicad who represent the manufacturers of nickel cadmium batteries.
We expect to have further meetings with battery companies and other stakeholders now that the batteries consultation paper has been issued.