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 the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on microbeads, of 5 May 2016, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in other EU countries on reaching common agreement on a ban on microbeads in personal care products; and if she will support a ban on microplastics in all personal care products, washing powders, household cleaners and industrial blast media.

The UK and a number of other EU Member States are calling for the European Commission to come up with proposals to ban microbeads in cosmetics at an EU level, as part of the ongoing negotiations on the proposed Council Conclusions on the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. We are also open to the possibility of the United Kingdom acting unilaterally if necessary.

In addition to this, the UK, in association with neighbouring countries in the Oslo and Paris Convention for the protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR), has developed the Regional Action Plan (RAP) on Marine Litter (http://www.ospar.org/documents?v=34422). This RAP includes an action to evaluate all products and processes that include primary microplasti­cs e.g. microbeads and act, if appropriate, to reduce their impact on the marine environment. This programme of work will help to inform the UK’s approach to other sources of microplastics such as in washing powders, household cleaners or industrial blast media.