To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the precautionary principle was exercised in their deliberations upon the European Union Regulation for the Placing of Plant Protection Products on the Market; and, if so, why they opposed the removal of the most hazardous pesticides, including those which are carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction.

The Government welcome most of the new regulation and are not opposed to the introduction of hazard criteria for substances which are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction. The Government cannot, however, support the regulation because of the uncertainty regarding the impact of the hazard criterion for potential human endocrine disrupters. This provision is likely to have a detrimental agronomic impact, but in the absence of an impact assessment or of a definition of endocrine disruption for these purposes, it is impossible to judge whether there will be any positive benefit accruing from this element of the regulation.