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Pest Control

Answer

I have been asked to replyThe UK Government have not banned the use of strychnine for mole control by dairy farmers.The use of strychnine for mole control is controlled under the Biocidal Products Directive administered in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the UK Competent Authority.This Biocidal Products Directive aims to harmonise controls for marketing and use of biocidal products across Europe, while ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment. This includes the assessment of the active substances (such as strychnine) in biocidal products, followed by the authorisation of individual products containing those substances. These risks assessments should be based on scientific data packages provided by industry or other interested parties.Industry did not submit any such data to support the continued marketing and use of strychnine, and so under the requirements of the directive, strychnine must be removed from the market by 1 September 2006.However, the directive does allow member states, on behalf of applicants, to apply for a temporary exemption for substances considered to have ‘essential use’ in those member states. The HSE has received an application for the ‘essential use’ of strychnine to control moles from the British Pest Control Association (BPCA) and will forward this to the European Commission for consideration.If this application is successful, it will allow strychnine to continue to be used until 14 May 2010. However, in the meantime, industry will need to develop alternative methods for controlling moles in the future.On research into alternatives to strychnine, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published in 2004 a report produced by the Central Science Laboratory which reviewed the range of mole control methods that exist across the EU. The report is available on DEFRA’s website at: (http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/reports/mole-review.pdf).

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

447 c155W; 72732

Session

2005-06

Transferred

Yes

Subjects

Pesticides Strychnine

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk