Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Perspectives on wildlife
poisoning by carbofuran in
the United Kingdom and
Republic of Ireland - with a
particular focus on Scotland
6.1 An overview of the registration and withdrawal
of carbofuran products
The United Kingdom (UK; comprised of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) is a
Member State of the European Union (EU), the subject of the previous chapter. The Republic of
Ireland (ROI; distinct from Northern Ireland) is also an EU Member State. Although many readers
will have some familiarity with Ireland's political history, not all may be aware that the ROI is a
distinct EU Member State, and not part of the UK (see Figure 6.1).
Products containing carbofuran were approved for use in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland until 2001, when approval expired (Chemicals Regulation Directorate, personal communica-
tion 2011). In contrast, carbofuran products were revoked in the ROI on 12 December 2007. A grace
period was also permitted whereby any remaining stocks could still be used until 12 December 2008
(following Directive 2007/416/EC; European Commission, and refer to Chapter 5). Tables 6.1 and
6.2 list the products that were approved in the UK and the ROI, respectively, in order of approval.
These tables also show that carbofuran products were legally available in the UK between
1987 and 2001, and in the ROI between 1985 and 2008, respectively. Their 'illegal' use, however,
remained in evidence up until as late as 2010, as indicated by the recent poisoning incidents dis-
cussed within this chapter. Chapter 2 highlighted how little active ingredient is required to (fatally)
poison a bird. Hence, even a small reserve stock could continue to be used illegally for a potentially
very lengthy period.
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