Neonicotinoids

(asked on 13th April 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the environmental effect of the emergency authorisation of a neonicotinoid product as a seed treatment on sugar beet.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 21st April 2021

Emergency authorisation applications for pesticides are considered based on a scientific assessment by the Health and Safety Executive and the independent UK Expert Committee on Pesticides following established procedures. The emergency authorisation decision considers the need for authorisation, the risks to human and animal health and the environment from use of the product. Applicants must also demonstrate that use will be limited and controlled and that there are special circumstances, which may include work that is being undertaken to find alternative solutions to use of the requested product.

In the case of the emergency authorisation this year for Cruiser SB (containing thiamethoxam) on sugar beet, strict conditions were attached to ensure that potential risks to pollinators and the environment would be minimised. One of these was to ensure that the product would only be used if the pest pressure was predicted to pass a certain threshold. Ultimately, the threshold for usage was not met and so the neonicotinoid will not be used on sugar beet crops planted in 2021.

The UK is a world leader in developing greener farming practices and upholds the highest standards of environmental and health protection. The Government is developing the revised National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, which sets out the ambition to further minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment. We are equally committed to protecting pollinators, and our National Pollinator Strategy sets out how the Government, conservation groups, farmers, beekeepers and researchers can work together to improve the status of pollinating insect species in England.

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