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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 6 of Annex 1 of the Full Minutes of the meeting of the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides on 18 April 2023, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusion that the Committee does not support an emergency authorisation under Article 53 of Regulation 1107/2009 for the aerial or land-based application of Asulox to control bracken due to risks that cannot be mitigated; and if she will make a statement.

Bracken can overwhelm sensitive habitats and threaten grazing land and the establishment of new tree plantings. This is why, after very careful consideration, an emergency authorisation has been granted for the limited and strictly controlled use of Asulox to control bracken in England in 2023.

The application for emergency authorisation was considered according to the legal tests and it was concluded that authorisation was necessary because of a danger that could not be controlled by other reasonable means, there were special circumstances, and the use of the product would be limited and controlled, with strict conditions in place to minimise the impacts to the environment and wildlife.