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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will include pet treatments as a significant source of pesticides as part of the UK Pesticides National Action Plan 2025.

The UK Pesticides National Action Plan 2025 relates to plant protection products, and therefore does not cover pet treatments.

Veterinary medicines are regulated under a separate legislative framework to pesticides: the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) 2013, as amended. These regulations ensure that all veterinary medicines undergo rigorous scientific assessment, including environmental risk assessments, before being authorised for use. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has formed the Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) Group as a UK cross-government platform to enable discussion and knowledge exchange relating to pharmaceuticals in the environment from human, veterinary and, where there is cross over, agricultural and non-agricultural sources. They have recently set out a roadmap of activities to address the levels of fipronil and imidacloprid detected in UK waterways.