To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to manufacturers and retailers about the lead content of batteries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to manufacturers and retailers about the lead content of batteries.

Most lead-containing batteries are covered by the scope of a draft EC directive which aims to reduce the amounts of that metal going in spent batteries to landfill or incineration for disposal. Negotiations on the draft directive have recently begun in Brussels. Officials in my Department have been in regular contact with representatives of the lead and battery industries over the past months.