The European Commission will put forward, on 31 January, a set of legislative measures limiting the use of neonicotinoids on crops attractive to honeybees, such as maize, cotton, rapeseed and sunflowers

The European Commission will put forward, on 31 January, a set of legislative measures limiting the use of neonicotinoids on crops attractive to honeybees, such as maize, cotton, rapeseed and sunflowers, in a bid to “ensure an equally high level" of their protection across the EU, Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner Tonio Borg told the Agriculture Council, on 28 January. The decision comes after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a study, on 16 January, identifying “a number of risks posed to bees by three neonicotinoid insecticides” (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) commonly used for the production of a number of crops across the EU. “These concerns call for swift and decisive action,” said Borg. However, he ruled out a total ban on neonicotinoids. “Our proposal will call for harmonised and legally binding measures, inspired by the precautionary principle, but also by the principle of proportionality,” Borg said. “In fact, a number of safe uses of these substances as regards bees have been identified by the EFSA. A total ban would not therefore be justified,” he added. A number of countries, including France, Italy and Slovenia, have already put restrictions in place on some uses of neonicotinoids in order to protect bees. “The Commission did not intervene in relation to such measures,” Borg said, underlining that now is the time to approach this issue in a harmonised manner.

Scientists at the EFSA, together with experts from across Europe, concluded that for all three neonicotinoid insecticides “only uses on crops not attractive to honeybees were considered acceptable”. The EFSA’s findings highlighted “acute” risks for honeybees from some uses of clothianidin and imidacloprid on flowering crops that are attractive to bees for pollen and/or nectar, such as maize, oil seed rape, sunflowers and cotton. Based on the EFSA’s publication, the Commission requested a response from neonicotinoids manufacturers Bayer, Syngenta and Cruiser OSR by 25 January. Their reply as well as the Commission’s proposal will be discussed at the meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, on 31 January.

During a discussion before Borg’s statement, Dutch Minister Sharon Dijksma called for action to be taken at EU level. The request was backed by the Polish, French and Austrian delegations. Meanwhile, the UK minister called for more research to be conducted in order to close the gaps signaled in the EFSA report. There is a strong lobby in the EU against any significant restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids. A study by the Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture, published a day before the EFSA’s report, warned that a ban on neonicotinoid seed treatments could reduce yields of some key crops by 20% and cost the EU economy up to €4.5 billion a year. The review, sponsored by Bayer Crop Sciences and Syngenta, also warned that a decision to remove the pesticide products could also result in more than a million job losses and push up the price of food.

Source: Europolitics, 29 January 2013
http://www.europolitics.info/sectorial-policies/neonicotinoids-commissi…