Bee-harming pesticides banned in Europe.

By Damian Carrington  29th April 2013.       Find Article Here:-

EU member states vote ushers in continent-wide suspension of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Europe will enforce the world’s first continent-wide ban on widely used insecticides alleged to cause serious harm to bees, after a European commission vote on Monday.

The suspension is a landmark victory for millions of environmental campaigners, backed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), concerned about a dramatic decline in the bee population. The vote also represents a serious setback for the chemical producers who make billions each year from the products and also UK ministers, who voted against the ban. Both had argued the ban would harm food production.

Although the vote by the 27 EU member states on whether to suspend the insect nerve agents was supported by 15 nations, but did not reach the required majority under voting rules. The hung vote hands the final decision to the European commission, which will implement the ban.

Tonio Borg, health and consumer commissioner, said: “Our proposal is based on a number of risks to bee health identified by the EFSA, [so] the European commission will go ahead with its plan in coming weeks.”

Friends of the Earth‘s head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton, said: “This decision is a significant victory for common sense and our beleaguered bee populations. Restricting the use of these pesticides could be an historic milestone on the road to recovery for these crucial pollinators.”

The UK, which abstained in a previous vote, was heavily criticised for switching to a “no” vote on Monday.

Joan Walley MP, chair of parliament’s green watchdog, the environmental audit committee, whose investigation had backed a ban and accused ministers of “extraordinary complacency”, said the vote was a real step in the right direction, but added: “A full Commons debate where ministers can be held to account is more pressing than ever.”

Greenpeace‘s chief scientist, Doug Parr, said: “By not supporting the ban, environment secretary, Owen Paterson, has exposed the UK government as being in the pocket of big chemical companies and the industrial farming lobby.”

On Sunday, the Observer revealed the intense secret lobbying by Paterson and Syngenta.

The environment minister, Lord de Mauley, countered, saying: “Having a healthy bee population is a top priority for us but we did not support the proposal because our scientific evidence doesn’t support it. We will now work with farmers to cope with the consequences as a ban will carry significant costs for them.”

Syngenta, which makes one of the three neonicotinoids that have been suspended, said: “The proposal ignores a wealth of evidence from the field that these pesticides do not damage the health of bees. The EC should [instead] address the real reasons for bee health decline: disease, viruses and loss of habitat.”

Bees and other insects are vital for global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed on disease, loss of habitat and, increasingly, the near ubiquitous use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

A series of high-profile scientific studies has linked neonicotinoids – the world’s most widely used insecticides – to huge losses in the number of queen bees produced and big rises in the numbers of “disappeared” bees – those that fail to return from foraging trips.

The commission proposed the suspension after the EFSA concluded in January that three neonicotinoids – thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid – posed an unnacceptable risk to bees. The three will be banned from use for two years on flowering crops such as corn, oilseed rape and sunflowers, upon which bees feed.

A spokesman for Bayer Cropscience said: “Bayer remains convinced neonicotinoids are safe for bees, when used responsibly and properly … clear scientific evidence has taken a back-seat in the decision-making process.”

Prof Simon Potts, a bee expert at the University of Reading, said: “The ban is excellent news for pollinators. The weight of evidence from researchers clearly points to the need to have a phased ban of neonicotinoids. There are several alternatives to using neonicotinoids and farmers will benefit from healthy pollinator populations as they provide substantial economic benefits to crop pollination.”

Neonicotinoids have been widely used for more than decade and are less harmful than some of the sprays they replaced, but scientific studies have increasingly linked them to poor bee health.

Many observers, including the National Farmers’ Union, accept that EU regulation is inadequate, as it only tests on honeybees and not the wild pollinators that service 90% of plants. The regulatory testing also only considers short-term effects and does not consider the combined effects of multiple pesticides. The chemical industry has warned that a ban on neonicotinoids would lead to the return of older, more harmful pesticides and crop losses but campaigners point out this has not happened during temporary suspensions in France, Italy and Germany and that the use of natural pest predators and crop rotation can tackle problems.

“It is imperative that any alternative chemicals to be used in their place must first pass the same tests failed by the neonicotinoids,” said Dr Christopher Connolly, a bee expert at the University of Dundee. “The recent findings have highlighted an urgent need for more rigorous safety testing protocols.”

In Brussels, the countries that voted against the ban were: the UK, Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Austria and Portugal. Ireland, Lithuania, Finland and Greece abstained. Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, France, Cyprus, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden voted in favour.

Ban on bee-harming insecticides would be a mistake, says UK chief science adviser

By Damian Carrington  26th April 2013.        Find Full Article Here:-

Mark Walport‘s defence came as beekeepers marched on parliament against the government’s opposition to planned ban.

Hundreds of beekeepers and nine major campaigning organisations demand environment minister Owen Patterson vote in favour of a ban on bee-harming pesticides, London, 26 April 2013. Photograph: Friends of the Earth

Plans to ban insecticides linked to serious harm in bees across Europe would be a “serious mistake” and could harm food production, according to the government’s chief scientific adviser. Sir Mark Walport’s strident defence of the government’s opposition to the proposed ban came on Friday as hundreds of beekeepers and environmental campaigners marched on parliament in protest and delivered a petition signed by 2.6 million people to the prime minister at No 10 Downing Street.

“This plan is motivated by a quite understandable desire to save the beleaguered bee and concern about a serious decline in other important pollinator species,” Walport wrote in the Financial Times. But Walport, who is just a month into the job, said the European commission must drop its proposal to suspend three neonicotinoids from use on flowering crops, such as corn, that bees feed on: “The consequences of such a moratorium could be harmful to the continent’s crop production, farming communities and consumers.”

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood protests with beekeepers Photograph: Andy Rain/EPASupporters of the ban, likely to be passed in a vote on Monday, argue the greater risk to food production is from the long-term loss of bees. Experts at the European Food Safety Authority have concluded there is now sufficient evidence to impose a precautionary ban while further research is done.

On the march, Steve Benbow, owner of the London Honey Company, which has several hundred hives across the UK, said: “We’re here because the government is not listening to beekeepers – they need to wake up.”

He said “The effect of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees and other pollinators is catastrophic. I’ve seen my bees get increasingly exhausted and ragged and they can die in huge numbers in front of the hives, but its the build up over time that is really damaging.” Bad weather and the build up of the varroa parasite are problems, he said, but so are pesticides.

“It’s fantastic to see the strength of support and that so many of the public are behind this issue,” said Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil Association. “Pollination is a vital resource for our farmers.”

Bees and other wild insects such as moths, ladybirds and hoverflies, pollinate three-quarters of all food crops, but have been in serious decline in recent decades. Scientific research published in the world’s most prestigious journals is increasingly linking neonicotiniods, the world’s most widely used insecticides, to severe harm to bee colonies. The chemical industry, which makes billions a year from their products, insist their products are safe and banning them would harm food production.

Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett along hundreds of beekeepers and nine major campaigning organisations demand environment minister Owen Patterson vote in favour of a ban on bee-harming pesticides, London, 26 April 2013. Photograph: Friends of the Earth“No one is saying the solutions to bee decline are easy,” said Paul de Zylva, from Friends of the Earth. He said a comprehensive bee action plan was needed. “The European commission’s prudent proposed ban is a proportionate response to the conclusions of the most comprehensive review of risks pesticides pose to bees,” de Zyvla said. “That found a ‘high acute risk’ to honey bees and an unknown risk to wild bees, and that’s the point. Neonicotinoids have not even been tested for the risk to wild bees, yet we are told they are safe. It’s notable that the words of ministers and civil servants sound just like those from the pesticides industry.”

Walport said: “All too often, people citing the precautionary principle simply overreact: if there is any potential hazard associated with an activity, then it should be stopped. In the longer term, we need a comprehensive action plan, exploring the complex factors behind the decline of pollinators.” A report on 5 April from parliament’s green watchdog, the Environmental Audit Committee, accused the government of “extraordinary complacency” and relying on “fundamentally flawed” studies.

EU member states will vote on Monday on a two-year suspension of neonicotinoids across the continent. European commission sources expect the vote will not produce a decisive result for or against the ban, meaning the EC has the power to fulfil its intention to put the ban in place.

The “march of the beekeepers” was organised by campaign group Avaaz, whose petition attracted 2.6 million signatures, as well as Buglife, Environmental Justice Foundation, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Pesticide Action Network, RSPB, Soil Association and 38Degrees.

Bee-harming pesticides escape proposed European ban.

By Damian Carrington  Friday 15th, March 2013.    Find Full Article Here:-

Commission proposal to suspend use of neonicotinoids fails to gain majority, but could still be enforced by appeals committee.

A member of NGO Avaaz holds a placard next to a giant inflatable bee during a demonstration calling on the EU to adopt a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. Photograph: Eric Vidal/Reuters

A European attempt to ban the world’s most widely used insecticides that have been linked to serious harm in bees has failed.

The European commission proposed a two-year suspension of neonicotinoids after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) deemed their use an unacceptable risk, but major nations including UK and Germany failed to back the plan in a vote on Friday.

The result leaves environmental campaigners, scientists and some politicians bitterly disappointed.

“Britain and Germany have caved in to the industry lobby and refused to ban bee-killing pesticides,” said Iain Keith, at campaign group Avaaz. “Today’s vote flies in the face of science and public opinion and maintains the disastrous chemical armageddon on bees, which are critical for the future of our food.”

The chemical companies that dominate the billion-dollar neonicotinoid market, Bayer and Syngenta, were relieved. Syngenta chief operating officer, John Atkin, said: “We are pleased member states did not support the EC’s shamefully political proposal. Restricting the use of this vital crop protection technology will do nothing to help improve bee health.”

A Bayer spokesman, describing the company as a “responsible corporate citizen” said: “The EC has relied too heavily on the precautionary principle, without taking the principle of proportionality into account.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defended the UK’s abstention: “Bee health is extremely important but decisions must be based on sound scientific evidence and rushing this through could have serious unintended consequences both for bees and for food production. We are not opposing the EU’s proposals. But as we do not have the evidence yet it is impossible for us to vote either way.”

But Prof Dave Goulson, at the University of Stirling and who led one of the key studies showing that neonicotinoids harm bumblebees, told the Guardian: “The independent experts at EFSA spent six months studying all the evidence before concluding there was an unacceptable risk to bees. EFSA and almost everybody else – apart from the manufacturers – agree this class of pesticides were not adequately evaluated in the first place. Yet politicians choose to ignore all of this.”