PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS

That this House notes that plant protection products are essential to the gardening industry and that the use of pesticides is highly regulated; recognises that if the European Parliament's amendments to the Proposal for a Regulation Concerning the Placing of Plant Protection Products on the Market are included in the final regulation, up to 85 per cent. of the 286 active substances assessed by the UK Government Pesticide Safety Directorate could be lost in the UK leading to a negative impact on the country's 20 million domestic gardens; further notes with concern that this would pose a major threat to the British ornamental horticulture industry, much of which is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas employing around 300,000 people; and calls on the Government to insist that the European Commission carries out an EU-wide impact assessment of this Regulation prior to its implementation.