Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he bring forward legislative proposals to tighten the regulations on the (a) control and (b) use of highly persistent chemicals.
The production, use, and disposal of Persistent Organic Pollutant (POPs) chemicals is managed in order to protect human health and the environment. Substances that fulfil the criteria for a POP are banned or restricted under the international Stockholm Convention and we regulate to enforce those restrictions.
The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan has specific targets to reduce emissions of POPs to the environment and we produce a triannual National Implementation Plan. It sets out our ambitions for the next three years and reports on previous actions and targets.
We will also consider whether further action is needed to reduce the impact of these chemicals in the forthcoming Chemicals Strategy.