New OP policy forum

On 13 January Agriculture Minister Lord Donoughue announced that the government has set up an inter-departmental committee to monitor the processes by which information about organophosphates is shared between government departments. The move comes as an acknowledgement that pesticide issues often cut across departmental boundaries.
    The group will be comprised of senior officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of Health, the Department Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Ministry of Defence, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Offices, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Pesticides Safety Directorate, the Medicines Control Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.
    The group will draw together all scientific evidence from the UK and international sources relevant to OP policy issues and to assess if there are gaps in scientific knowledge.

Written answer, Parliamentary Questions, House of Lords , London, 13 January 1998.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 39, March 1998, page 23 ]