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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2026 to Question 484 titled Paraquat, if she will make it her policy to ban the export of paraquat.

We take our trade and international obligations for human health and the environment seriously. Export of paraquat is tightly regulated through the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime for the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals. The Government does not currently intend to ban the export of paraquat.

The PIC regime requires GB companies intending to export paraquat to notify the importing country through the Health and Safety Executive. The explicit consent of the importing country is also required before export can take place. This helps countries make informed decisions about import, handling and safe use. We also support listing paraquat under the Rotterdam Convention, which promotes shared responsibility and information sharing in relation to the trade of hazardous chemicals.