Animal medicine disposal: register your farm nowFarmers risk breaking the law even if they continue responsible animal medicine disposal, unless they register their farm now. But official muddle is making it needlessly difficult to comply. This was the message given to by NOAH's technical executive Stephen Dawson delegates at the Animal Health Distributors Association (AHDA) conference in Blackpool today. New Groundwater Regulations, introduced to bring the UK in line with a European directive, came into force on 1 January 1999. They require that anyone needing to dispose of listed products, including SP and OP sheep dips, should register with the Environment Agency (EA), or the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), or the Northern Ireland Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) before 1 April 1999, in order to be able to carry on this practice. If applications are made on or after this date, then disposal of these substances is not allowed until the appropriate agency has considered and approved the application. Although the UK had to introduce groundwater legislation to avoid European fines, NOAH has been arguing that the interpretation of the directive is out of all proportion, and the costs to register could be the final nail in the coffin for some already beleaguered farmers. To cause further problems, official advice has been late coming; draft guidelines have yet to be published, registration forms seem unavailable and publicity has been minimal. This could mean that farmers could miss out on registering in time - and have to stop treating their animals until a farm assessment can be made, or risk a fine. Mr Dawson called on AHDA members to help spread the word: "Farmers need to be aware of these regulations and deadlines, so they can continue with good disposal practice until their official assessments can be arranged. If they miss the 31 March deadline, they will have real problems disposing of animal health products properly - and legally".
27 January 1999 Notes for EditorsFor further information contact Roger Cook, Stephen Dawson or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)181 367 3131 The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 34 corporate members and 10 associate members which in 1997 accounted for around 95% of the £379 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports. The Groundwater Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998 No. 2746) were made on 6 November 1998, and implement the Directive into English, Welsh and Scottish law. A set of regulations for Northern Ireland (S.R. 1998 No. 401) is identical to the GB version in all but the legal basis and references to the Environment Agency or Scottish Environmental Protection Agency are replaced by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. These regulations introduce: - a new requirement for an authorisation for the disposal of List I or List II substances (where a waste management licence is not already required)
- a new procedure for prohibiting or regulating other activities in or on land which pose an indirect threat to groundwater from List I or List II substances.
There are exemptions from the regulations for (among other things) small quantities and concentrations of List I or List II substances, but no clear guidance on what this means in practice. List I and list II substances include the following (see the regulations for the full text): | List I | List II | | organohalogen compounds | various other metals and their compounds | | organophosphorous compounds | biocides and their derivatives | | organotin compounds | inorganic phosphorus ammonia and nitrites | | carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic compounds | | | mercury and its compounds | | | cadmium and its compounds | | | mineral oils and hydrocarbons | | | cyanides | |
The registration helplines are: - Environment Agency, (England and Wales), general enquiries: 0645 333111
- Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, (Scotland), Regional offices:
- North 01349 862021,
- East 0131 449 7296,
- West 01355 574200
- Environment and Heritage Service, (Northern Ireland), 01232 251477
A copy of Mr Dawson's speech to the AHDA conference 'The Implications and Costs of Environmental Legislation for Animal Medicines' is available from the NOAH office on request.
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