Baroness Hayman, Minister of State at MAFF, announces a four-point plan on organophosphates in response to advice received from the Veterinary Products Committee, the Advisory Committee on Pesticides and the Committee on Safety of Medicines on the regulatory implications of the COT report (see 26 November 1999). The 'action plan' includes the withdrawal of OP sheepdip concentrate containers from the market until containers are redesigned to 'minimise operator exposure to OP concentrate'.

The Legal Aid Board has decided that the solicitors Hodge Jones and Allen of London are to be solely responsible for the generic litigation work for claims from Gulf war veterans and those exposed to organophosphate sheepdip.

The All-Party Organophosphate Group meets Baroness Hayman.

Counsel has advised a law firm preparing claims for health damage from exposure to sheepdip that litigants may be able to pursue claims against the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods (MAFF) on the basis that a duty of care existed between MAFF and the sheepdipping community during the period of compulsory sheepdipping.

The report Organophosphates, of the Organophosphates Working Group, a subcommittee of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), is published. See our Library for comments.
www.open.gov.uk/doh/cot/htm

An OP seminar is held in Ludlow, chaired by the Bishop of Ludlow. Speakers include a GP, a solicitor and a representative of the Pesticides Trust. Contact OPIN for a report of the seminar.

The Lancet publishes a research letter by Dr Juliet Compston of Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, about reduced bone formation after exposure to organophosphates.

OPIN meets Baroness Hayman, Minister of State for Agriculture. OPIN discussed research projects into occupational exposure to OPs. OPIN told the minister that many people are very concerned at reports of cognitive impairment among children of sheep farming families, and that these concerns have been reported to the HSE, but no research has been commissioned. Baroness Hayman mentioned the possibility of widening the membership of government scientific advisory committees to include some users, their medical advisers and experts in occupational health. She noted the TUC conference statement on banning the use of OPs, and said that the COT/OP Working Group would be publishing their report later in 1999.