4 Jun 2009 :
Column WA109
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the
interdepartmental committee on organophosphates, also known as the Carden Committee, last met; what subjects were discussed;
whether their deliberations were minuted and
published; and which members attended. [HL3873]
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and
Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord
Hunt of Kings Heath): The Official
Group on Organophosphates (sometimes referred to as the Carden
Committee) last met on 26 June 2007. The meeting discussed the
government-sponsored research programme on organophosphates and agreed that all
of the research should be referred to the Committee on Toxicity (COT) of
Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. The John Harvey report, aircraft cabin-air contamination, the Australian review of diazinon were also discussed.
The Chief Veterinary
Officer and other officials from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Scottish
Government Rural Directorate, the Department of Health, the Health and Safety
Executive, the Food Standards Agency, the Ministry of Defence and the Office
for Science and Innovation attended the meeting.
Apologies were received from
the Welsh Assembly Government, Department for Agriculture and Rural Development
Northern Ireland, the Pesticide Safety Directorate, the Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the Scottish Government Health
Directorate, the Health Protection Agency and the Cabinet Office.
The minutes of these
meetings are not published.