Out-Law News 2 min. read

European Commission to proceed with suspension of pesticides linked to bee decline


The European Commission will proceed with proposals to restrict the use of three pesticides linked to serious harm in bees, despite failing to attract sufficient support from EU member states, it has announced.

It will publish the text of its plans to restrict the use of three neonicotinoids on plants and cereals which are attractive to bees for two years from 1 December 2013 "in the coming weeks", Health and Consumer Commissioner Tonio Borg said.

"Although a majority of member states now support our proposal, the necessary qualified majority was not reached," Borg said. "The decision now lies with the Commission. Since our proposal is based on a number of risks to bee health identified by the European Food Safety Authority, the Commission will go ahead with its text in the coming weeks."

"I pledge to do my utmost to ensure that our bees, which are so vital to our ecosystem and contribute over €22 billion annually to European agriculture, are protected," he said.

Qualified majority voting rules relate to the percentage of the EU represented by a particular vote. Although 15 EU member states supported the restriction during an Appeal Committee vote, eight member states voted against the proposals and four member states abstained. The UK was one of the member states to object to the proposals, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.

The restrictions will prevent the use of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam for seed treatment, soil application and foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants and cereals. Limited exceptions will allow for the possible use of the pesticides on bee-attractive crops in greenhouses, or in open-air fields only after flowering. Amateur growers will be prevented from using the pesticides entirely, whilst professionals will be able to use them for any remaining authorised uses.

The restrictions will apply for two years from 1 December 2013. The Commission will review the use of the pesticides to take into account "relevant scientific and technical developments" as soon as this is available, and at the latest within two years of the ban coming into force.

Environmental law expert Linda Fletcher of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the plans demonstrated a "continued approach in Europe to tightening controls on chemicals and their application", and that manufacturers would be affected.

"This is all part of the European Commission's continued programme of review for all active substances used in plant protection products within the EU and stems from the new legislative framework established by a new Regulation in 2009," she said, referring to an EU Regulation on plant protection products (50-page / 1.2MB PDF).

 

"The initial proposal had been to ban these particular pesticides from 1 July 2013, but whether a delay of five months is really enough to enable manufacturers to prepare for this ban is highly debatable; particularly as the industry has stated that there is no real alternative to the seed coating product that has been used to date. There are some arguments being raised that further discussions should have been had before the decision was taken to ban the substance," she said.

Bees and other insects play an important role in global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The use of neonicotinoid pesticides is one of a number of factors linked to declining bee populations by scientists, which also include disease and loss of habitat. The proposed ban follows a January report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concluded that certain neonicotinoids posed a "high acute risk" to honey bees.

UK Environment Minister Lord de Mauley said that the Government would "work with farmers" to cope with the costs and other consequences of the ban.

"Having a healthy bee population is a top priority for us but we did not support the proposal for a ban because our scientific evidence doesn't support it," he said. "Significant countries agree with us that a ban is not the right action to take and we will work with them to get much better evidence."

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