1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Poisons (Amendment) Rules 1992 and shall come into force on 1st November 1992.

(2) In these Rules “the principal rules” means the Poisons Rules 1982(2).

2.  Rule 20 of the principal rules (form of containers)(3) is hereby revoked.

3.  Schedule 4 to the principal rules (which provides for exemptions from the Poisons Act 1972 and the principal rules) shall be amended in accordance with the Schedule to these Rules.

Rule 3

SCHEDULEAMENDMENTS TO SCHEDULE 4 TO THE POISONS RULES 1982

The entry for phenols in Group II of Schedule 4 to the principal rules shall be amended as follows:

(a)the following items shall be deleted, namely—

• butylated hydroxytoluene

• carvacrol

• essential oils in which phenols occur naturally

• tert-butylcresol

• p-tert-butylphenol

• p-tert-pentylphenol

• p-(1, 1, 3, 3 - tetramethylbutyl) phenol

• thymol;

(b)for the words “liquid disinfectants or antiseptics not containing phenol and containing less than 2.5 per cent of other phenols” there shall be substituted the following words:

“liquid disinfectants and antiseptics containing less than 0.5 per cent phenol and containing less than 5 per cent of other phenols (as defined in the Poisons List)”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules, which by virtue of rule 1(1) come into force on 1st November 1992, amend the Poisons Rules 1982 (“the principal rules”) in two respects.

Rule 2 revokes rule 20 of the principal rules, which prohibits the sale or supply of liquid poisons in bottles having a capacity of not more than 1.14 litres unless their outer surface is ribbed or grooved in the manner there specified. This is consequential upon the implementation of various Council Directives by the Child Resistant Packaging and Tactile Danger Warnings (Safety) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/2006), which come into force on 1st November 1992. This revocation is necessary to avoid duplication.

Rule 3 and the Schedule revise the list of phenols which benefit from the exemptions in Group II of Schedule 4 to the principal rules. This ensures that certain liquid disinfectants which are freely available to the public are similarly exempt.