Syngenta pesticide Cruiser OSR banned in France

The French government has banned the use of a pesticide linked to the decline of bees that is widely used to treat oilseed rape crops. The French Ministry of Agriculture withdrew Cruiser OSR, a neonicotinoid insecticide that contains the active ingredient thiamethoxam, from use on oilseed rape in France. French agricultural minister Stephane Le Foll confirmed the ban on Friday (29 June). Cruiser OSR is a seed treatment by Swiss agrichemical company Syngenta, which describes it as “the most effective and convenient way of controlling damaging pests in oilseed rape”. The ban will take effect from the start of the next oilseed rape sowing campaign in the late summer. However, Luke Gibbs, head of public affairs at Syngenta UK, said British growers would not be affected. “The restriction on the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments in France will not impact the registration of Cruiser in the UK, which will be available for use as normal in the coming planting season,” he confirmed. Syngenta will contest the French ban. The Swiss agro-chemical company said it would be seeking to block the move through a fast-track appeal. A spokesman for Syngenta UK said: "Syngenta believes strongly in the safety of this product and intends to contest this decision in the Administrative Court and will be asking for a suspension of the decision pending the court's ruling."

The decision to ban Cruiser in France follows two studies earlier this year, in the UK and France, which found evidence that high doses of neonicotinoids contained chemicals that disorientate bees and prevent them from finding their hives. Studies show that bee numbers are declining worldwide and conservationists claim increased pesticide use is a major factor. However, Mr Gibbs said Syngenta remained convinced that the decision to ban Cruiser in France was being made without the appropriate scientific evidence. Mr Gibbs said the experimental study on neonictinoids in France was flawed because bees were subjected to far higher doses of the chemical than they would ever encounter in the field as the pesticide is used at far lower doses – and only as a seed treatment. More than 650,000ha of oilseed rape have been treated with France this year without any incidents of damage to bee health, added Mr Gibbs. And across Europe more than 3m ha have been treated with no reported problems. “Long-term monitoring shows that these products do not impact bee health,” said Mr Gibbs. “Seed treatments are the most effective and environmentally responsible method to protect crops from seed damage – significantly reducing the risk of non-target species. Cruiser protects 30% of crop yields and replaces foliar application sprays.” France’s Ministry of Agriculture had also been pushing for an EU-wide ban on neonicotinoids with the European Commission and the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). However, Farmers Weekly understands that the commission will not be proposing a member state restriction of neonicotinoids at this time and will wait until EFSA reports its own assessment later this year.
DEFRA said it was monitoring the situation, but confirmed that so far the Food and Environment Research Agency’s National Bee Unit had found no evidence that linked neonicotinoids directly to any case of bee mortality.

Source: Farmers Weekly, 29 June 2012 & 2 July 2012
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/29/06/2012/133671/Syngenta-pesticide-Crui…
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/02/07/2012/133696/Syngenta-to-appeal-Fren…
The French Minister of Agriculture who banned the Syngenta pesticide 'Cruiser' - active ingredient is the neonicotinoid Thiamethoxam - in June this year did so after consulting his own National Agency for Food and Environmental Safety - ANSES - which based its opinion on the recent study by Henry et al - see below. The French Minister of Agriculture really 'set the cat among the pigeons' by asking ANSES to deliver a report to him on the safety of Thiamethoxam for bees - based on the study by Henry et al. ANSES found itself between a rock and a hard place, because - like the EPA in America, it really is tied to the pesticides industry as part of the entire European agrochemical-political nexus, including EFSA, ANSES and the entire regulatory system. Nevertheless, ANSES could do nothing except highlight the scienctific facts in the study by Henry et al, which provides very strong evidence that bees exposed to field-realistic doses of Thiamethoxam cannot find their way home. If you read the attached paper, you will see that the differences between treated and control colonies was only a few percent different, but the effect was cumulative - and over some weeks, the treated colonies just never grew - indeed, many collapsed and died. The implications of this are clear - and reflect the experience of French beekeepers: colonies which feed on crops treated with 'Cruiser' simply do not thrive, and in many cases they collapse and die. ANSES desperately tried to find a way to avoid saying this - since this was 'letting down their friends' in the pesticides regulation branch of the EU - but the science compelled them to at least give the basic facts. ANSES wriggles like a worm on a hook, trying in every way possible to say that 'this does not mean that thiamethoxam kills bees' - but it is self-evidently PR spin. The French Minister of Agriculture decided that the evidence was strong enough to ban Cruiser and he did just that.