Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the process for taking the decision to approve an emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid thiamethoxam for the treatment of sugar beet seed in 2021 complies with the Aarhus Convention requirements to (a) make environmental information available to the public in a way that is transparent and accessible and (b) inform the public early in the decision making process and provide for their adequate participation in the decision making process; and if he will make a statement.

The decision followed the normal process for emergency authorisations, as provided for in Regulation (EC) 1107/2009. The regulation provides a comprehensive framework for the assessment of applications for emergency authorisation, including mechanisms for the assessment of risks to human or animal health, or the environment.