EU proposes to ban insecticides linked to bee decline

Three neonicotinoids, the world's most widely used insecticides would be forbidden across the continent for two years

After failing to get a ban in February 2013, the EU will certainly pursue its lobby to ban clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam.

Imadacloprid and Thiametoxam are marketed in Mauritius and therefore our vegetables and fruits exporters should take EU's step with concern and adapt to this new situation fast.

 A ban on 3 pesticides (nenicotinoids (NNI) - clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam) was submitted by the Commission for vote on 15 March 2013 to Member States' experts meeting at a Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health.
The Commission's proposal is a response to the European Food Safety Authority's scientific report which identified "high acute risks" for bees as regards exposure to dust in several crops such as maize, cereals and sunflower, to residue in pollen and nectar in crops like oilseed rape and sunflower and to guttation in maize.
The Commission proposed the following to Member States:

1. amend the conditions of approval of the 3 NNI in order to restrict the use o nly to crops non attractive to bees and to winter cereals (as dust exposure during autumn is not considered a major issue).
2. prohibit the sale and use of "seeds treated" with plant protection products containing these active substances (provision not to apply to treated seeds of plants non attractive to bees and to treated seeds of winter cereals).
3. both measures referred to in points 1) and 2) to be implemented at the latest by 1 July 2013 (thus not affecting the forthcoming sowing season for maize).
4. prohibit the sale and use to "amateurs". Only professional uses to remain allowed.
5. To review of both measures by the Commission after 2 years.
   Commission to review the conditions of approval of the 3 neonicotinoids (clothianidin, thiametoxam and imidacloprid) - as soon as new information is available - to take into account relevant scientific and technical developments.
6. Exceptions to be limited to the possibility to treat bee-attractive crops in greenhouses at any time and in open field only after flowering.

Result of the vote:
The Commission put the text to the vote and NO QUALIFIED MAJORITY WAS REACHED, either in favour or against of the text.
THE COMMISSION TAKES NOTE OF THE MEMBER STATES' RESPONSE TO ITS PROPOSAL BUT REMAINS COMMITTED TO AMBITIOUS AND PROPORTIONATE LEGISLATIVE MEASURES. 

Source: http://ec.europa.eu 

Neonicotinoid pesticides 'damage brains of bees'

Commonly used pesticides are damaging honey bee brains, studies suggest.

Scientists have found that two types of chemicals called neonicotinoids and coumaphos are interfering with the insect's ability to learn and remember.

Experiments revealed that exposure was also lowering brain activity, especially when the two pesticides were used in combination.

The research is detailed in two papers in Nature Communications and the Journal of Experimental Biology.

But a company that makes the substances said laboratory-based studies did not always apply to bees in the wild.

And another report, published by the Defra's Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), concluded that there was no link between bee health and exposure to neonicotinoids. The government agency carried out a study looking at bumblebees living on the edges of fields treated with the chemicals.

Falling numbers

Honey bees around the world are facing an uncertain future. They have been hit with a host of diseases, losses of habitat, and in the US the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder has caused numbers to plummet.

Now researchers are asking whether pesticides are also playing a role in their decline. To investigate, scientists looked at two common pesticides: neonicotinoids, which are used to control pests on oil seed rape and other crops, and a group of organophosphate chemicals called coumaphos, which are used to kill the Varroa mite, a parasite that attacks the honey bee.

Neonicotinoids are used more commonly in Europe, while coumaphos are more often employed in the United States. 

Work carried out by the University of Dundee, in Scotland, revealed that if the pesticides were applied directly to the brains of the pollinators, they caused a loss of brain activity.

Dr Christopher Connolly said: "We found neonicotinoids cause an immediate hyper-activation - so an epileptic type activity - this was proceeded by neuronal inactivation, where the brain goes quiet and cannot communicate any more. The same effects occur when we used organophosphates.

"And if we used them together, the effect was additive, so they added to the toxicity: the effect was greater when both were present."

Another series of laboratory-based experiments, carried out at Newcastle University, examined the behaviour of the bees. The researchers there found that bees exposed to both pesticides were unable to learn and then remember floral smells associated with a sweet nectar reward - a skill that is essential for bees in search of food.

Dr Sally Williamson said: "It would imply that the bees are able to forage less effectively, they are less able to find and learn and remember and then communicate to their hive mates what the good sources of pollen and nectar are."

'No threat'

She said that companies that are manufacturing the pesticides should take these findings into account when considering the safety of the chemicals.

She explained: "At the moment, the initial tests for bee toxicity are giving the bees an acute dose and then watching them to see if they die. 

"But because bees do these complex learning tasks, they are very social animals and they have a complex behavioural repertoire, they don't need to be killed outright in order not to be affected."

The European Commission recently called for a temporary moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids after a report by the European Food Safety Authority concluded that they posed a high acute risk to pollinators. 

But 14 out of the 27 EU nations - including the UK and Germany - opposed the ban, and the proposal has now been delayed.

Ian Boyd, chief scientist at Defra, said: "Decisions on the use of neonicotinoids must be based on sound scientific evidence."

He said that the results of the Fera bumblebee study suggested that the extent of the impact might not be as high as some studies had suggested - and called for "further data based on more realistic field trials is required". 

Dr Julian Little, communications and government affairs manager at Bayer Crop Science Limited, which makes some of the pesticides, said the findings of laboratory-based studies should not be automatically extrapolated to the field.

"If you take an insecticide and you give it directly to an insect, I can guarantee that you will have an effect - I am not at all surprised that this is what you will see," he explained.

"What is really important is seeing what happens in real situations - in real fields, in real bee colonies, in real bee hives, with real bee keepers."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk