Pesticides: Environment Protection

(asked on 3rd February 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the final Revised National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides will include stronger measures for improving the uptake of Integrated Pest Management by farmers by (a) guaranteeing payments for nature-based Integrated Pest Management and pesticide reduction under the Environmental Land Management Scheme and (b) committing to introduce crop or area specific groups to bring farmers together to discuss common obstacles and solutions for reducing pesticide use.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 12th February 2021

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

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