My Lords, I beg to move that these regulations, which were laid before this House on 19 October, be considered. The instrument makes necessary technical corrections to
the retained regulation on persistent organic pollutants, which I will hereafter refer to as POPs, to ensure that it continues to fully function in Great Britain following EU exit. The technical amendments in this instrument address deficiencies in Annex I of the retained POPs regulation, reinstate a set of exemptions also in Annex I that were omitted in error, and correct some provisions that have no legal effect.
I should make it clear that all the amendments introduced by this instrument are technical operability amendments and do not introduce any policy changes. These corrections are permitted by use of the powers available within Section 8 of, and Schedule 7 to, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. We have worked with the devolved Administrations on this instrument.
These regulations form an essential part of secondary legislation needed to implement the UK’s commitments under both the United Nations Stockholm convention on POPs, to which the UK is a party, and the protocol on POPs to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. POPs are substances recognised as being particularly dangerous to the health of humans, wildlife and the environment. This instrument preserves the current regime for managing, restricting or eliminating POPs in the UK.
I turn to the details of this instrument. When the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 were drafted in preparation for the end of the implementation period, some errors were made. This resulted in a number of minor issues that need to be remedied by the new instrument.
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First, a set of derogations that allow specific and time-bound permitted uses of particular POPs were accidentally deleted from the retained regulations during the drafting of the 2020 POPs regulations. These derogations, which relate to the POP called decaBDE, are reinstated by the new instrument, returning to the pre-EU exit position. Secondly, there are deficiencies for two POPs in the retained POPs regulations. These substances are PFOS, including its derivatives, and PFOA, including its salts and related compounds. The deficiencies, which consist of references to the EU Commission, were not corrected by the 2020 POPs regulations. The new instrument now corrects these deficiencies by referring to “the appropriate authority”. Finally, there are provisions in the 2020 POPs regulations that have no legal effect in relation to the POP called PFOS. This is due to the EU making changes to its POPs regulations in September 2020 that were not captured or incorporated in time for EU exit implementation day. This instrument removes these provisions in the retained regulations.
This instrument was not subject to consultation, as it does not alter existing policy. The purpose of this instrument is solely to enable the current legislative and policy framework to remain unchanged by correcting deficiencies. In line with published guidance, there was no need to conduct an impact assessment for this instrument. This is because no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen, as the instrument relates to maintenance of existing regulatory standards and the cost of any direct impact from it falls under £5 million.
The Environment Agency is the delivery body for POPs regulations for England, and Natural Resources Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency are the delivery bodies for Wales and Scotland respectively. They have been involved in the development of this instrument and have no concerns in relation to its implementation or resources.
The territorial extent of this instrument is the United Kingdom. Its territorial application is Great Britain. The EU POPs regulations apply in Northern Ireland. The devolved Administrations were engaged in the development of the instrument and have consented to it being made on a UK-wide basis.
In conclusion, I emphasise that the measures in this instrument will ensure that the UK’s retained POPs legislation will be fully operational, with previous inoperabilities corrected. The Government’s 25-year environment plan made clear our commitment to support and protect the natural environment, wildlife and human health. The draft regulations will allow the UK to continue to meet existing commitments relating to POPs, and continue to fully implement the Stockholm convention requirements to prohibit, eliminate or restrict the production and use of POPs. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee and hope that noble Lords will support these measures and their objectives.