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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of neonicotinoid seed treatment and its effect on the bee population.

We always use the best available science when making decisions on pesticides, and risks to pollinators are a key consideration. Pesticides that carry unacceptable risks to pollinators should not be authorised.

Since 2013, the use of three neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) has been prohibited on a number of crops, such as oilseed rape, that are deemed attractive to bees. Since that time, the evidence on risks to pollinators has continued to develop and includes several field studies that indicate risks from exposure to pollen and nectar from treated crops. Last year, the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides confirmed that the evidence supported the existing restrictions. The Committee also noted the potential for neonicotinoids used on non-flowering crops to persist in soil and to be taken up by following flowering crops or by weeds.

On the basis of this assessment, the Government announced its support for further restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticides. In April 2018, the UK voted in favour of European Commission proposals that will see a ban on any outdoor use of these three neonicotinoids from December 2018.

Unless the scientific evidence changes, the Government will maintain these increased restrictions after leaving the EU.