Roger T. Garland
Question:47 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the present position regarding the EC Directive on Plant Protection Products in light of the rejection of this Directive by West Germany, Denmark and Holland.
Written Answers. - EC Directive on Plant Protection Products.
Roger T. Garland
Question:107 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will make a statement on the possible effects of the EC Directive on Plant Protection Products whereby member states would be compelled to allow the use of these chemicals listed in the directive even though some of these have been previously banned by individual member states; and whether these chemicals have been exhaustively tested on their safety on the environment and on health.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 107 together.
The proposal for a Council directive concerning the placing of EC-accepted plant protection products on the market is part of the 1992 harmonisation programme and is intended to set up a harmonised procedure for the authorisation of plant protection products. In the case of plant protection products already on the market when the directive would come into force, the Commission, in consultation with the member states, would establish a priority list for the review of these products. In the review procedure, old active substances would be rigorously evaluated having regard to their potential effects on consumer and operator safety and on the environment. Where products have been banned because of harmful effects in any of these ways, the framework proposed by the Commission could not lead to reinstatement of such products at national level. Furthermore, decisions with regard to particular products would be made at member state level on the basis of complete data packages available on the products.
As is normal in such cases, this proposal has been referred for technical discussion to a Council working party which is at present engaged in detailed examination of it. There is no question of member states rejecting the principle of the proposal but the varying views on particular aspects of it are put forward in the discussion. The report of the working party will be submitted in due course to the Council of Ministers which takes the decision on the adoption of the proposal as a directive in accordance with EC rules.