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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to undertake an independent assessment of the safety of glyphosate as part of the forthcoming National Action Plan for the Sustainable use of Pesticides.

All pesticides are subject to strict regulation, which requires that they can only be authorised for use if a scientific assessment finds that this will not harm people or have unacceptable impacts on the environment. Authorisations are subject to regular review. The safety of glyphosate has been scrutinised in this way and glyphosate products are authorised for use.

The Government will publish for consultation a draft of the revised National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides later this year. The National Action Plan will expand on the approach set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan to reduce further the impacts of pesticide use while protecting crops. At the centre of this will be encouraging the development and uptake of Integrated Pest Management, under which farming systems are designed to minimise the need for pesticides and to make use of alternative approaches wherever possible.