Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the government of Ireland concerning the UK's withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Secretary of State and the Irish Agriculture Minister, Michael Creed, discussed the UK’s withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention on 5 July 2017.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the Government of Wales prior to the issuing of the statement by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 2 July on the UK's withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention; and whether the Government of Wales had any input into the contents of that statement.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
In April this year, my colleague the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food discussed a range of issues relating to UK fisheries with Ministers from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including taking back control of UK waters when we leave the EU. Plans to withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention were set out in the Government’s manifesto and so were well known to Ministers of all devolved administrations. The matter was also discussed between Defra and Welsh Government officials.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their decision unilaterally to withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention, what is their negotiating position on the right of other states to fish in UK waters post–Brexit.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
When the UK leaves the EU it will automatically become an independent state and will be able to control and manage access to UK waters in accordance with international law. We will have taken back control of our waters and be in a position to negotiate access with other countries in the interests of the UK and our fishing industry.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their decision unilaterally to withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention, what assessment they have made of the risk that other EU member states may seek to restrict fishing by British vessels in their waters post-Brexit.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The UK has notified its intention to withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention ensuring the UK will control access to the 6-12 mile zone of UK waters after we leave the EU. In 2015, EU vessels caught an estimated 10,000 tonnes of fish, worth around £17 million in the 6-12 mile zone of UK waters. In comparison, UK fishermen caught an estimated 730 tonnes of fish, worth around £1 million in the 6-12 mile zone of other Member States.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether any new trade arrangements with the US, involving the import of food products from the US to the UK, could compromise existing food safety and traceability standards.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There are currently no proposals for the UK to grant access for US agri-food products outside of the EU’s current approvals regime and hence no specific assessment has been undertaken. Until the UK leaves the EU we will continue to meet all relevant EU food safety legislation. Once we have left the EU, maintaining the UK’s high standards of food safety will remain a priority.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how many (1) farm workers, and (2) other people, may have had their health affected by working with organophosphate sheep dipping chemicals.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s (VMD's) Pharmacovigilance Unit runs a voluntary scheme that encourages veterinary professionals, medical professionals and the general public to report suspected adverse reactions or treatment failures following use of veterinary medicines. Pharmaceutical companies are also legally obliged to report adverse reactions they are made aware of to the VMD within agreed timeframes and are inspected periodically to ensure compliance with this requirement.
Adverse reactions may occur in treated animals, in-contact animals, people administering the product or handling treated animals. Each report is individually reviewed before being subjected to statistical analysis to look for trends. Should a pattern of adverse events for a specific product emerge, regulatory actions to improve the safety of that product may be taken. The action taken will depend on the seriousness of the adverse events and the conditions under which they occurred.
All human reports and statistical findings are regularly reviewed by the VMD’s veterinarians, immunologists, pharmacists, toxicologists and ecotoxicologists before being considered by the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) who provide independent advice to the VMD.
The number of reports of suspected adverse reactions in humans to organophosphate (OP) sheep dips received by the VMD each year since records began in 1985 is shown below.
It is not compulsory for reporters to provide information on the occupation of the patient but it is known that at least 83% of those affected were farm workers.
Year | Number of Reports |
| Year | Number of Reports |
1985 | 8 |
| 2001 | 3 |
1986 | 10 |
| 2002 | 2 |
1987 | 10 |
| 2003 | 3 |
1988 | 19 |
| 2004 | 0 |
1989 | 9 |
| 2005 | 0 |
1990 | 4 |
| 2006 | 0 |
1991 | 126 |
| 2007 | 1 |
1992 | 130 |
| 2008 | 0 |
1993 | 167 |
| 2009 | 0 |
1994 | 47 |
| 2010 | 0 |
1995 | 41 |
| 2011 | 1 |
1996 | 27 |
| 2012 | 0 |
1997 | 32 |
| 2013 | 1 |
1998 | 17 |
| 2014 | 0 |
1999 | 24 |
| 2015 | 0 |
2000 | 6 |
| Total | 688 |
The majority (56%) of these reports have been assessed to relate to short term illness following acute exposure but since some reports describe a period of illness following each exposure over a number of years, they have been classified as chronic. Almost 50% of reports do not contain any information on whether Personal and Protective Equipment (PPE) was worn, but of those where this information is known, 82% of the reports describe PPE as being either inadequate or totally absent.
At the request of the Government, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (the COT) considered the issue of whether prolonged or repeated low level exposure to OPs can cause chronic ill health on two separate occasions. The COT’s “Organophosphates” report of 1999 identified some gaps in the scientific knowledge.
The Government responded by commissioning the research and once it was completed referred back to the COT to seek advice on the meaning of this research.
Following a broader review of published scientific literature the COT published a statement on 13 March 2014. The COT concluded that the reviewed evidence suggests that exposures to cholinesterase-inhibiting organophosphates that are insufficient to cause overt acute poisoning do not cause important long-term neurological toxicity in adults and that if toxic effects on the nervous system do occur then they are minor and subtle.
The full COT statement and lay summary are both available on the COT website.