UPDATE: With the result of the EU Referendum, some constituents have contacted me to ask whether the government plans to keep the ban on 'neonic' pesticides in line with EU regulations. As the terms of Brexit are still being negotiated, the Government has not yet committed to either banning or allowing these pesticides - though the EU's policy will remain in place until we have officially left it. I understand that a review by the European Food Safety Authority is due to be published in early 2017, and will be sure to provide a further update when I know more.
Following various emails I have received about the Government’s policy on bees and pesticides, I wanted to clarify the current situation and reiterate my own position on this important issue.
As I recalled in an email newsletter sent out a while ago, I well remember as a child having a nest of wild honey bees in the roof space above my bedroom at our home in Clumber Park. There was a swarm at least once a year and a local bee keeper would come with little more than a smoke puffer and portable hive to take the swarm away if it had settled in an accessible place in the garden.
My father then kept a couple of hives though by this time I had left home. A few summers ago I persuaded my partner, Neil, to allow a friend of ours to keep a hive in his garden – and we are keen to ensure he continues to do so.
I know how important bees are, accounting for 80% of insect plant pollination in total. Without bees many crops would not fruit or would have to be pollinated by hand. We simply would not be able to produce as much food throughout the world without a large healthy bee population.
As such, I have been pleased to support a number of measures introduced by the Government to help safeguard our bee population. In consultation with various charities and other experts, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has devised a ‘National Pollinator Strategy’, which provides a framework to help manage the threats facing all pollinators. DEFRA also continues to manage the National Bee Unit which provides inspection, diagnostic and training services to beekeepers.
Additionally, the Government has helped farmers and landowners to grow and maintain plants which benefit bees and has provided £2.5 million to help fund 9 projects on insect pollination. Two projects specifically focus on honey bees, and 6 will benefit both honey bees and bumblebees.
You can read more about how the Government is supporting ‘bee-health’ by clicking on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/bee-health
The current regulations covering the usage of pesticides are determined at an EU level and provide for the limited and controlled use of pesticides containing particular neonicotinoids only in emergency situations. This will continue to be the case until and unless the European Commission decides to reform it.
In the UK, the Government makes decisions about applications to use restricted pesticides in emergency situations based on the advice of ‘The Expert Committee on Pesticides’. This committee, comprising several well-respected and highly qualified scientists, relies on evidence about the impact of pesticides on the environment and public safety and considers all the relevant criteria for such authorisation before reaching a recommendation. This ensures all decisions are made in consideration of the best available science.
I understand that recently the Committee considered two applications for emergency pesticide authorisation. The first, which sought authorisation for the usage of such pesticides on 79% of the national crop area was rightly rejected on the grounds that the proposed usage was neither limited nor controlled. The second application was much more limited in scope and sought authorisation for use on 5% of the national crop area. As such, the Expert Committee and DEFRA’s Chief Scientist both recommended that, subject to suitable stewardship arrangements, this was a suitably limited and controlled way of addressing a danger from pests which could not be contained by any other reasonable means.
I hope this clarifies this important issue and the Government’s approach to bees, pesticides environmental management.