insecticide - LJN Blog Posts - Landscape Juice Network2024-03-28T16:15:33Zhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/insecticideGovernment rejects scientific case for a ban on pesticides linked to bee declinehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/government-rejects-scientific-case-for-a-ban-on-pesticides-linked2013-09-10T09:11:21.000Z2013-09-10T09:11:21.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>In its response to the Environmental Audit Committee report on Pollinators and Pesticides, the government rejects the mounting peer-reviewed evidence that led the European Commission to conclude that a moratorium on the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides is a proportionate and necessary step to protect bees and other insect pollinators.</p>
<p>The government acknowledges that it must implement the European Commission ban in the UK, but its response highlights the work it will be doing ahead of the 2015 Europe-wide review of the environmental, agricultural and economic effects of the moratorium.</p>
<p>The government has also refused to introduce the monitoring scheme for insect pollinators recommended by the Committee.</p>
<p>Joan Walley MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: "I am disappointed that the government has not accepted the great weight of scientific evidence that points to the need for the ban on these pesticides in line with the precautionary principle.</p>
<p>"The government acknowledges that it must implement the EU wide moratorium in the UK, but it is still refusing to acknowledge the case for a ban on these products being used in people’s gardens.</p>
<p>"There is no justification for people continuing to use these products on their Dahlias when they could be having a detrimental effect on pollinator populations. Suspending the sale of neonicotinoids for home use would create an urban safe haven for bees.</p>
<p>"The Committee will maintain its watching brief in the run-up to the 2015 review of the moratorium and will judge the available evidence on its merits; we hope that the Government will adopt a similar approach."</p>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/news/pollinators-government-response/" target="_blank">Environmental Audit Committee: Government rejects case for ban on pesticides</a></p>
</div>EU bans use of fipronil to better protect Europe’s beeshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/eu-bans-use-of-fipronil-to-better-protect-europe-s-bees2013-07-17T07:49:49.000Z2013-07-17T07:49:49.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>The European Commission has banned the use of insecticide, fipronil, after fears about the damage it was doing to bees.</p>
<p>Widely used across Europe by farmers, fipronil will be banned from use on corn and sunflowers from the end of 2013, after member states <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-708_en.htm" target="_blank">overwhelmingly backed</a> the proposal in a vote.</p>
<p>Tonio Borg, European commissioner for health, said: "A few weeks ago, in the aftermath of the restriction on use of neonicotinoids, I pledged to do my utmost to protect Europe’s honey bee population and today’s agreement with member states, not only delivers on that pledge but marks another significant step in realising the Commission’s overall strategy to tackling Europe’s bee decline."</p>
<p>In the vote, the UK, Slovakia and the Czech Republic abstained and Spain, the biggest user of fipronil, and Romania voted against. The UK was also one of eight of the 27 EU member states that unsuccessfully opposed the EC neonicotinoid ban.</p>
<p>Fipronil is manufactured by the German chemical company BASF and they expressed <a href="http://www.basf.com/group/pressrelease/P-13-374" target="_blank">their disappointment</a> with the ruling.</p>
<p>"The decision regarding fipronil was derived from an assessment that focused heavily on new technical areas for which no established regulatory evaluation criteria are yet available," said Jürgen Oldeweme, of BASF Crop Protection.</p>
<p>"Moreover, sound data from field studies that underpin the safe use of our product for bees were not considered sufficiently. We are certain that Europe can achieve both – the protection of pollinators and the support of European agriculture – but for that all stakeholders must engage in a comprehensive action plan to address the real root causes of the decline in bee health."</p>
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