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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to check and certify the online selling of Chlorpyrifos.

Plant protection products (essentially agricultural and horticultural pesticides) may not be placed on the market or used unless they have been authorised. Authorisations include statutory conditions of use which must be followed to ensure that these products are used safely.

National pesticides legislation subjects internet sales of pesticides to all the same legal obligations as over-the-counter sales. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the UK pesticides regulator, follows up any concerns raised on internet sales with sellers where possible, to ensure internet sales comply with legal requirements. In order to support compliance with the law, the pesticides distribution sector has produced best practice guidance to raise awareness amongst distributors selling pesticides on the internet.