Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the Health and Safety Executive requires people to have specific accreditation to purchase rodenticide from vendors.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for the regulation of biocidal products in the Great Britain, which include rodenticides.

To ensure that the risks associated with professional use of anticoagulant rodenticides could be properly managed, the UK Government and stakeholders agreed that rodenticide stewardship was needed. The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK (CRRU UK) has developed a stewardship regime in the UK.

One component of CRRU’s stewardship regime is that for professional use of rodenticides, verification of competence is required at the point of sale, in order to ensure that only those who are trained in proper use and risk mitigation measures can use such products.