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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) ensure compliance with pesticide regulations.

A pesticide may only be placed on the market in GB if the product has been authorised by the GB regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), following a thorough scientific risk assessment, that concludes all safety standards are met. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks are not authorised. Pesticide authorisations normally set conditions on the use of the pesticide. Pesticide users are also required to have relevant training and for the equipment they use to be tested regularly.

The HSE undertakes compliance and enforcement activities, to ensure that where pesticides are used, they are used safely and in accordance with the law. The supply of professional pesticide products and the use of pesticides in agriculture, horticulture, and parts of the amenity sector is enforced by HSE’s Pesticide Enforcement Officers, following a risk-based approach to compliance established under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020.