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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of treating biopesticides under a separate regulatory system than chemical pesticides.

Microbiologicals formulated into products, semiochemicals, plant extracts, and other substances based on biological materials are regulated as biopesticides, under the same regulatory system as chemical pesticides, if one of their functions is to protect a plant from pests. We currently do not intend to change this.

However, we plan to review regulatory processes and data requirements to identify where approvals and permissions for biopesticides can be made simpler and speedier. Our assessment is that this should reduce regulatory burden on applicants and lead to quicker approval timelines, without compromising environmental and human health standards.