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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to maintain the ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Decisions on the approval of pesticide active substances are made at European level. Since December 2013, three of the five currently approved neonicotinoids are not permitted for use on a wide range of crops considered “attractive to bees”. A number of other uses remain permitted under the EU approval. The restrictions currently in place for neonicotinoids are not time-limited.

The European Commission gave an undertaking to commence a review of the science on neonicotinoids by the end of May 2015. This process has now commenced. Companies have provided further studies and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has invited any party to submit relevant data, including published studies, by 30 September 2015.