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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the addition of pesticides to the exclusions list in the UK Internal Market Bill means that devolved Governments will be able to (a) take additional action which goes beyond that of England to ban or restrict specific pesticide active substances due to concerns over effects on human health or the environment and (b) reduce maximum residue levels for specific pesticide active substances to levels below those of England due to concerns over effects on human health.

The intention of the pesticides provision in the UK Internal Market Bill is that each part of the UK will remain responsible for deciding which pesticide products can be authorised for sale and use in their respective territories, as they are now. After the end of the Transition Period, each administration in Great Britain will also have responsibility for approval of active substances, a pre-requirement for authorisation of products. This approach will ensure that each administration retains the ability to decide what pesticides can be used in their territory, and to take account of locally specific factors such as environmental conditions or farming practices should that be necessary.

While setting of maximum residue levels will also be devolved within Great Britain after the Transition Period, the intention of the Bill is that the mutual recognition principle will apply to rules on maximum residue levels in the same way it applies to rules on goods generally, to ensure effective functioning of the internal market. This will avoid the potential for new internal trade barriers on sale of food which has been produced lawfully should there be any divergence in maximum residue level decisions.

In practice, all administrations delegate their pesticide regulatory functions to the Health and Safety Executive to undertake on their behalf. This helps to ensure a consistent approach and we are committed to working closely together with the devolved administrations to continue to take joint decisions wherever possible.