Campaigners for freedom of information in Britain have won a five-year
battle to widen access to safety data on pesticides. The Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food last week announced a five-point plan to make its Advisory
Committee on Pesticides (ACP) more open.
The proposals would declassify ACP鈥檚 safety data on pesticides approved
before 1986. At present, these data are available only for pesticides approved
since then. Another proposal is for consumer groups to nominate their own
expert representative on the ACP.