By RUTH LOGNONNE

Published at 09:43, Friday, 12 March 2010

ENVIRONMENTAL lobbyists have won their battle to ban the sale of cypermethrin sheep dips.

Concerns were raised in 2005 that the insecticide was damaging watercourses and affecting marine life after a number of serious incidents occurred.

In one case, more than 5,000 rare white-clawed crayfish were killed in the River Mint in Cumbria.

The sale of cypermethrin sheep dip has been temporarily banned by Defra since February 2006 and various fisheries and environmental groups have been seeking a permanent ban ever since.

The Sheep Dip Stakeholder Steering Group involved representatives from all sides of the argument and developed an action plan for reducing the potential pollution from sheep dip.

This included the “Stop every Drop” campaign to reduce pollution incidents. However, continual lobbying backed up by the threat of legal action, from the fisheries and environmental sector has led to the permanent ban of cypermethrin as a sheep dip.

This pressure resulted in the three manufacturers of the sheep dip asking the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, or VMD, to permanently remove their products from the shelves.

The Salmon and Trout Association’s chief executive, Paul Knight, said: “This day has been long in coming, but marks a significant step in the improvement of UK rivers. It brings to a conclusion 15 years of work by our association and other organisations to get these lethal chemicals banned from entering our waterways. Miniscule amounts of cypermethrin have proved incredibly damaging to aquatic insects, fish eggs and the fish themselves, causing widespread damage in the UK.

“Achieving this permanent ban proves that the concerted, coordinated lobbying and influence of fisheries organisations can bring about real benefits.”

A spokesman for the NFU said: “Farmers haven’t been able to use cypermethrin as a sheep dip for a long time. The thing is, by taking it away from the sheep dips it does force farmers to go back to using organic phosphates which is detrimental to both health and the environment.”

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk