Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [HL]

Lord Hope of Craighead Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 26th February 2025 Lords Chamber

We now have whole new ranges of products, which often include biocides that change the bacterial composition of the vaginal microbiome and cause infection risks. There are even experiments with products containing coagulants that could be used to clot blood. Many of these are undoubtedly great, but we need to ensure that they are properly regulated—at least as regulated as cosmetics, but probably not as tightly regulated as medical devices. It is shocking to me, and anyone I speak to, that blusher is more regulated than tampons. I ask the Government to consider this amendment, or something similar, very carefully. It would allow us to ensure the safety and the clear labelling of these products, so that we do not see any repeat of the toxic shock tragedy.

[Lord Hope of Craighead (CB)]

My Lords, I would like to say a quick word about Amendment 3 from the noble Lord, Lord Lansley. It has the attraction of introducing the word “safe” into the Bill, which does not appear anywhere else. The Bill uses the word “safety” and talks about minimising risk and so on. It recognises that products may involve some element of risk, whereas the amendment suggested by the noble Lord talks about eliminating risk. It is a desirable aim in itself, but I am not quite sure how that can be achieved. The noble Lord asked the Minister to say that the Bill is saying the same thing as he is, so he will not have to press his amendment. It seems to me that there is a real difference, and it is a very interesting difference, so I think that may be stretching the matter too far.

[Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (PC)]

My Lords, I apologise for not being involved in earlier discussions on the Bill. I rise in support of Amendment 26, which attracted me to contribute to today’s discussion. As a young woman and a user of these products, I was very shocked and surprised to hear about the different chemicals in them. A lot of young women would also be surprised and shocked to know about these chemicals, that they are not advertised, and that this information is not shared with the products’ users. I commend the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, on bringing forward this very important amendment, and I urge the House to support it.