Lords to rule on chemical imports

26 October 2001



Lords to rule on chemical imports

By Isabel Davies

LAW lords should decide within three weeks whether to make it easier for farmers to import cheaper foreign chemicals.

The National Farmers Union is waiting for a decision from the Court of Appeal which has heard two days of evidence on the subject.

The union has intervened in a legal case involving the Crop Protection Association, which wants tighter rules on pesticide imports.

NFU and government officials want to change the rules which only allow spray imports if they are identical in composition to UK pesticides.

Lord Justice Simon Brown has heard arguments that the test for allowing imports should be that products are “essentially similar”.

NFU senior legal adviser Robert Madge said a final ruling on the case was not expected for two or three weeks.

“I think we had the better of the argument but we are going to have to wait and see,” he said.