Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Shooting is facing up to ban on lead ammunition
A ban on using lead in shotgun cartridges and rifle bullets is getting closer. Philip Bowern reports
THE shooting community is being encouraged to respond to a health and safety executive consultation document that proposes an all-out ban on the use of lead shot over an 18-month timeframe.
The issue has been on the agenda for the shooting community for several years with pressure to bring in a lead ban coming from anti-shooting groups as well as many supermarkets that sell game meat.
Now the health and safety executive, implementing the recommendations from UK Reach body, responsible for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals, is backing a ban.
In a 200-page report just out, the HSE concludes that wildlife and human health are at potential risk from ingesting lead shot and bullets, from when they drop to the ground in areas where shooting takes place or from fragments left in shot game.
The HSE concludes: “The only option to reduce risks to both wildlife and human health that would be fully effective, practical, monitorable and enforceable is a ban on the placing on the market and use of lead shot for shooting live quarry.”
It goes on: “Some other options (such as introducing a maximum level of lead in game meat, mandatory product labelling, training for hunters and potentially a buy-back scheme [of lead shot, if it were to be be banned] could provide useful supplementary options to support the restriction.
“A restriction would be a legally enforceable version of the shooting industry’s own commitment to phase out lead shot for this purpose.
“As the lead-free alternatives are already available, a transition period of 18 months is proposed for this option. This will give the manufacturers time to scale up the production of the alternative shot.”
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, the major membership body representing those who shoot, has already responded publicly to the recommendation.
BASC executive director of operations Steve Bloomfield said: “The proposed restrictions would see a ban on the sale and use of many
We have significant concerns about the short time for transition away from lead STEVE BLOOMFIELD, BASC
forms of lead ammunition outdoors in England, Scotland and Wales. Limited exemptions have been outlined in the dossier for the continued use of lead ammunition in some licensed settings.
“The wide-ranging proposed restrictions, which closely reflect EU Reach proposals, would apply to shotgun, rifle and airgun ammunition. The dossier will now undergo a high level of scrutiny and BASC will be playing a full role in that process.
“Through a six-month consultation also launched by the HSE, we
will challenge proposed restrictions where there are no viable alternatives to lead, where socio-economic factors mean a transition isn’t appropriate, and where lead can continue to be used in settings that present negligible or no risk.
“We have significant concerns about the short timeframes outlined in the dossier for transition away from the use of lead ammunition, which could be as short as 18 months. This is particularly alarming in light of current global supply chain issues. We will fight for timelines that are realistic and guided by the sector to ensure that the range of lead-free products and their supply can meet market demands.
“BASC will be engaging the regulator to ensure that proposals are robustly scrutinised and that any future restrictions are based on evidence and proportionate to identified risks.
“We will not accept disproportionate restrictions that unfairly disadvantage shooting activities.
“Shooting is worth £2 billion to the UK economy, employing the equivalent of 74,000 full time jobs. The proposed restrictions stand to impact all 600,000 live quarry shooters and the estimated four million target and air rifle shooters in Great Britain. The regulator must be able to show its working and acknowledge the monumental challenge that restrictions will bring to the shooting community and market.
“BASC remains fully committed to the five-year voluntary transition away from using lead shot for live quarry shooting that has made such significant progress under challenging conditions.
“Given the severity of the proposed restrictions, the voluntary transition has afforded the sector a head-start in the move away from lead ammunition.”