At the end of October, experts from EU member states rejected the European Commission’s proposal to implement the EFSA guidance document on assessing the toxicity of a pesticide on bees, deplored the NGO Pesticide Action Network - Europe (PAN Europe), on Tuesday 6 November.
Refusal is a missed opportunity for protecting bees and other pollinators “in particular from the harm presented by (...) bee toxic pesticides that are being introduced to replace the recently banned neonicotinoids”.
The substances in question are: sulfoxaflor, flupyradifurone, cyantraniliprole and chlorantraniliprole.
The guidance document 2013 was used as the basis for carrying out an evaluation of the neonicotinoids according to the most updated scientific data.
While 76% of member states supported the almost total ban on the three most toxic bee-killing neonicotinoids (on which simple use restrictions were imposed in 2013), they failed to apply the criteria set out in the document to all pesticides.
Since 2013, no other pesticide has been evaluated according to the EFSA guideline document.
“Bees are popular with the public (...) but when it comes to effectively tackling the real causes of bee decline, (...), one realises that some politicians play a hypocritical game and, safely shielded behind closed doors (...), refuse to take measures to phase out bee-toxic pesticides”, bemoans Martin Dermine, of PAN Europe.
The NGO is referring here to the 23-24 October PAFF meeting, for which the Commission has not yet published the minutes. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)