Syngenta challenges EU ban on neonicotinoids to protect bees

Agri-giant Syngenta has launched a legal challenge to the European Commission’s ban on the use of the pesticide thiamethoxam over fears it could harm bee health.

The Commission banned thiamethoxam – a type of neonicotinoid– for two years in April.

In a statement yesterday, Syngenta said the Commission’s process was “flawed” and based on “an inaccurate and incomplete assessment by the European Food Safety Authority”.

“We would prefer not to take legal action but have no other choice given our firm belief that the Commission wrongly linked thiamethoxam to the decline in bee health. In suspending the product, it breached EU pesticide legislation and incorrectly applied the precautionary principle,” said Syngenta chief operating officer John Atkin.

“Since the EU suspension of thiamethoxam was announced, farmers and farmer organisations have expressed great concern that an extremely effective, low-dose product will not be available to them and will have to be replaced by much less sustainable alternatives. Modern products like thiamethoxam are essential to address the challenge of increasing European food production and reducing the reliance on imports.”

Syngenta has called for “practical solutions” to declining bee health, which it said was down to disease, viruses and loss of habitat.

In response, Friends of the Earth said the EU’s measures were justified.

“With mounting scientific evidence linking neonicotinoid pesticides to bee decline, failure to act would recklessly put our food supplies and economy at risk,” said Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton. “We can’t afford to gamble with the future of our bees.

“The government’s forthcoming pollinator strategy must tackle all the threats our bees face, including pesticide use.”

Urgent review

In June, the UK government announced an “urgent” review of the evidence surrounding declining bee populations, with the intention of developing a national pollinator strategy.

“We must develop a better understanding of the factors that can harm these insects and the changes that government, other organisations and individuals can make to help,” said Defra parliamentary under-secretary Lord de Mauley.

The UK voted against the EU’s ban on neonicotinoids in April on the basis there was not enough evidence these types of pesticides were harmful to bee populations.

In April, Waitrose moved to ban its suppliers from using three neonicotinoid pesticides - including thiamethoxam - over concerns around bee health.