Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment of the effect of export of the herbicide paraquat on health.

We take our trade and international obligations for human health and the environment seriously and continue to monitor action in other countries and learn from their experiences.

The export of paraquat from Great Britain (GB) is regulated under the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime for the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals. Companies intending to export any of these chemicals from the GB must notify the importing country via the exporter's Designated National Authority. For GB, the Designated National Authority is The Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Paraquat additionally requires the explicit consent of the importing country before export can take place. The exchange of information that PIC provides allows the importing countries to make informed decisions on the import of those chemicals and on how to handle and use them safely. This process is kept under review.

We believe it is essential that the use of active substances that are known to be hazardous to human health or the environment should be subject to scientific risk assessment and regulatory protections. We accordingly support notification of the export of Paraquat under the PIC regulatory regime and support its listing as a hazardous substance under the Rotterdam convention. ​

Additionally, the UK is committed to working internationally to support other nations to safely manage pesticides - in particular through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, through the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and through the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA). We also believe in evidence-based international policymaking through the use of scientific committees, such as the Chemical Review Committee, and support strengthening of the international 'science - policy interface' for chemicals and pesticides to enable more effective global decision-making.