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15 Dec 2004 : Column 1103W—continued
Land Reform
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the policy of her Department is on land reform. [201672]
Alun Michael: The Department has no proposals for land reform.
Nitrates
Mr. Salmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions
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her Department has had with farming bodies regarding the application of organic nitrogen in nitrate vulnerable zones. [203693]
Mr. Morley: The nitrates directive outlines the rules, including those restricting the rate and timing of organic manure applications, that must be included within a member states' action programme.
In December 1998, Defra's predecessor Department established an action programme within the nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs) in England and Wales. During the development of this action programme, those Departments formally consulted with stakeholders, including farming bodies, on a number of separate occasions. Specifically:
November 1995: consultation on Proposed Measures to Apply in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones and Draft Regulations Transposing the Directive in England and Wales.
December 1997: consultation on Draft Regulations Establishing the Action Programme Measures to Apply in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones in England and Wales.
In December 2002, Defra established an action programme within the additional NVZs designated in that year. This action programme was effectively identical to that established in the original NVZs in 1998. Nevertheless, the Department provided the opportunity for further comment during the following consultation:
December 2001: The Protection of waters against agricultural nitrate pollution in England: How should England implement the 1991 Nitrates Directive?
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Scottish Executive regarding (a) nitrate vulnerable zones and (b) nitrate derogations. [203694]
Mr. Morley: The Department has regular contact with the Scottish Executive on all matters regarding the implementation of the Nitrates Directive. Additionally, the Scottish Executive are a member of the project board that oversees the development of research in relation to the intended UK justification to the EU Commission in support of a derogation to allow a higher application limit for manure nitrogen within its Action Programmes.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make representations to obtain a derogation to allow organic nitrogen to be applied in nitrate vulnerable zones up to 250kg per hectare. [203695]
Mr. Morley: Member States may allow a different application limit than the baseline of 170kgN/ha set by the Nitrates Directive, though they must justify that decision to the EU Commission. As a result of earlier discussions with the Commission, the Department has initiated research to support the UK justification for the inclusion of a higher application limit within its Action Programmes.
Nuclear Waste
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the potential for plasma gasification melting technology to deal with nuclear waste. [202091]
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Mr. Morley: The Department has made no such assessment. However, the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), which has been set up by UK Government and the devolved Administrations, is currently considering a wide range of options for the long-term management of the UK's higher activity radioactive waste and is very happy to receive suggestions via its website—www.corwm.org.uk.
Oil Pollution
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from (a) the Environment Agency and (b) the Environmental Industries Commission on oil pollution of inland waters; and if she will make a statement. [201130]
Mr. Morley: My officials are in regular contact with the Environment Agency which is responsible for enforcing the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 which were introduced to prevent pollution of surface and ground waters. I have received representations from the Environmental Industries Commission relating to its report "Oil under the Carpet" which calls for the regulations to be strengthened. My view remains that this would be premature, given that the requirements do not come fully into force until September 2005 and there has already been an encouraging fall in the number of oil pollution incidents reported since the regulations were made.
Organophosphates
Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what products containing organophosphates are authorised for use in the United Kingdom, in (a) agriculture, (b) horticulture, (c) industrial and (d) domestic circumstances; by which companies each is manufactured; what quantities she estimates were supplied in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement on their future use. [204162]
Alun Michael:
A list of products for use in agriculture and horticulture that contain organophosphates and are currently approved by the Pesticides Safety Directorate is provided in the attached table. The table also lists separately the organophosphate veterinary products approved for use in domestic circumstances and as sheep dips. There are no approved pesticide products containing organophosphates approved in domestic
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gardens, industrial products and domestic uses other than plant protection products are approved by the Health and Safety Executive.
Information on the quantities of each pesticide is not available as these data are not gathered by the Pesticides Safety Directorate. Data on total sales are collected for the purposes of the levy, but this does not include information on individual products. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate does not collect comprehensive data on the sales of veterinary medicines containing organophosphates (OPs), other than sheep dips. This is because OP sheep dips have always been regarded as presenting the greatest potential risk to human health. These sales data are collected under the adverse reaction surveillance scheme, and have been used to put into context the numbers of serious human adverse reactions being reported for OP sheep dips. The number of such adverse reactions reported to other OP based veterinary medicines is negligible. This year we have received no adverse reaction reports to any OP based veterinary medicine, including sheep dips.
The most recent figures available, which cover sales in the year 2003, show that there were 54,000 kg of organophosphate active ingredients sold in such products. Given a sheep population of around 36 million in the UK, this equates to about 1.5 grams of active used on each sheep per year.
Future use of organophosphates
The independent scientific Veterinary Products Committee, which advises agriculture and health Ministers on all aspects of veterinary medicines, takes the safety of organophosphates very seriously and keeps their use in veterinary medicines under regular review. It has recently confirmed its advice that, on the basis of the current scientific evidence, there is no need to take any further regulatory action on these products, provided they are used in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions.
All agricultural pesticides are subject to strict regulatory control and must be approved by Ministers before they can be marketed or used in the UK. Data are thoroughly evaluated by the Pesticides Safety Directorate. PSD's evaluation is subject to independent scrutiny by the Advisory Committee an Pesticides. All pesticide approvals are subject to a regular review programme including organophosphates, and a specific review may be activated at any time if evidence emerges concerning their safety. If appropriate, an approval can be restricted or revoked entirely.
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(9) Approved for use as a commercial fisheries product
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