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.
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.
The government has also refused to introduce the monitoring scheme for insect pollinators recommended by the Committee.
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.
"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.
"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.
"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."
Website: Environmental Audit Committee: Government rejects case for ban on pesticides
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