Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested a copy of papers related to meetings of a joint working group of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (-�ACP-�) and the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (-�COT-�). Some information was provided at the time of the request and during the Commissioner-�s investigation. However, the public authority withheld details of the issues being considered by the joint working group under regulation 12(4)(e) (internal communications), the name of a company linked to particular pesticide under regulation 12(5)(e) (commercial confidentiality) and the names of officials contained in certain documents under regulation 13 (personal information) of the EIR. The Commissioner-�s decision is that the public authority has incorrectly applied regulation 12(4)(e) and 12(5)(e) to the information withheld under these provisions but that it has correctly applied regulation 13 to the information withheld under that regulation. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose to the complainant details of the issues being considered by the joint working group that were withheld under regulation 12(4)(e) and the name of the company withheld under regulation 12(5)(e). Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2012/0205 dismissed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: EIR 12.4.e - Complaint Upheld, EIR 12.5.e - Complaint Upheld, EIR 13 - Complaint Not upheld