Honeybees

De Europese Commissie heeft donderdag (31 januari 2013) aangegeven EU-lidstaten te willen verzoeken het gebruik van pesticiden te beperken, die verbonden worden met de achteruitgang van de bijen. De Commissie wil het gebruik van neonicotinoïde insecticiden op zonnebloem, koolzaad, maïs en katoen opschorten. "We hebben de lidstaten gevraagd gedurende twee jaar het gebruik van deze bestrijdingsmiddelen op zaden, granulaten en sprays voor gewassen die voor bijen aantrekkelijk zijn, op te schorten," zei Commissie woordvoerder Frederic Vincent op een normale dagelijkse briefing. "We hopen dat de regeling voor maart kan worden goedgekeurd " zei hij, eraan toevoegend dat de Commissie verwacht dat het verbod uiterlijk per 1 juli 2013 wordt uitgevoerd. De woordvoerder zei dat er een uitzondering gemaakt wordt voor maïszaad in 2013, waarbij de Commissie neonicotinoïden gebruik vooralsnog wil toestaan​​, tenzij de lidstaten beperkingen eerder willen implementeren. Een rapport van de Europese Autoriteit voor voedselveiligheid (EFSA) had eerder deze maand geconcludeerd dat drie veelgebruikte neonicotinoïde pesticiden, gemaakt door het Zwitserse Syngenta en het Duitse Bayer, een acuut risico voor de bijen vormden.

The European Commission wants to suspend for two years the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides on crops attractive to honeybees and prohibit the sale and use of seeds treated with plant protection products containing these active substances, according to a proposal put forward at a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH), on 31 January. The restriction is targeted at clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, applied as granules, seed treatment or spray on maize, oil seed rape, sunflowers, cotton and cereals (except from winter cereals). "We are requesting (that) member states suspend for two years the use of this pesticide on seeds, granulates and sprays for crops which attract bees," Commission health spokesman Frederic Vincent told a regular daily briefing. “These are proportionate measures. We are giving the member states two years to see whether it’s working. Then we will see if we need to review the legislation in Europe,” the Commission’s spokesperson for health and consumer policy, Frederic Vincent, said on 31 January. The Commission hopes that a decision on the suspension would be taken in a form of a regulation on 25 February at the SCFCAH level and will enter into force on 1 July. A report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) earlier this month said three widely-used neonicotinoid pesticides, made by Switzerland's Syngenta and Germany's Bayer, posed an acute risk to honeybees.

Die Europäische Kommission will heute (31.01.2013) mit den Mitgliedstaaten konkrete Schritte zum Schutz von Bienen besprechen - und zumindest die Einschränkung des Gebrauchs der umstrittenen Wirkstoffe dürfte in den nächsten Wochen kommen. Eine Entscheidung soll es allerdings noch nicht geben. Man wolle zunächst die Reaktionen der Mitgliedstaaten einfangen, heißt es. EU-Gesundheitskommissar Tonio Borg schloss gegenüber den EU-Agrarministern in Brüssel ein Totalverbot über alle Anwendungsbereiche hinweg aus. Er kündigte ehrgeizige, aber verhältnismäßige Maßnahmen an. Die Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit (EFSA) war Mitte Januar zum Schluss gekommen, dass Neonikotinoide aus Sicht des Bienenschutzes vor allem in Mais-, Raps- und Sonnenblumenbeständen kritisch zu betrachten sind, in anderen Kulturen wie Zuckerrüben oder Kartoffeln hingegen nicht.

Nach einem Bericht über die Gefahren von Pestiziden für Bienen fordert die Bundesregierung eine gemeinsame EU-Entscheidung über den Einsatz der Chemikalien in der Landwirtschaft. "Ich denke, das Entscheidende ist, dass wir das in Europa gemeinsam entscheiden und auf wissenschaftlicher Basis", sagte Robert Kloos, Staatssekretär im Bundeslandwirtschaftsministerium, am Montag am Rande von EU-Beratungen in Brüssel. Dabei könne der Umgang mit den Stoffen in Deutschland "eine bedeutende Rolle spielen, weil wir schon weitergehende Schritte unternommen haben". Die Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit (EFSA) hatte in der vorletzten Woche vor den Gefahren für Bienen durch Insektizide gewarnt. Eine Untersuchung der drei Mittel Clothianidin, Imidacloprid und Thiamethoxam habe "etliche Risiken" für Bienen gezeigt. Die Chemikalien gehören zu der Gruppe der hochwirksamen, aber umstrittenen Neonicotinoide, die seit längerer Zeit mit Vergiftungen und dem Massensterben von Bienen in Verbindung gebracht werden. Die EU-Kommission bezeichnete die Studie trotz noch lückenhafter Datenlage als "beunruhigend". Als Reaktion auf die Studie setzten die EU-Agrarminister das Thema auf die Tagesordnung ihres Treffens am Montag in Brüssel. Ein Expertengremium befasst sich am Donnerstag mit der Studie. Ziel sei es, so schnell wie möglich eine gemeinsame Entscheidung über den Einsatz der Neonicotinoide zu treffen, sagte Kloos. "Und dafür brauchen wir weitere wissenschaftliche Grundlagen in Europa."

Een meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer heeft ingestemd met een verbod op het gebruik van neonicotinoïden in de landbouw en ongediertebestrijding. PvdA, SP, Groen Links, D66, ChristenUnie en 50+ stemden voor de motie die was ingediend door Esther Ouwehand van de Partij voor de Dieren. VVD, CDA, PVV en SGP stemden tegen de motie. Staatssecretaris Sharon Dijksma (Landbouw) had de motie ontraden. Dijksma moest zich nu op 28-01-13 in Europees verband inzetten voor een verbod van alle landbouwtoepassingen van de neonicotinoiden. De vraag is echter of dit ook daadwerkelijk is gebeurd. Het lijkt er eerder op dat staatssecretaris Sharon Dijksma van Economische Zaken bij haar oorspronkelijke standpunt is gebleven, bepaalde toepassingen van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen uit de neonicotinoïdegroep te beperken vanwege het risico voor bijen, maar niet over te gaan tot een algeheel verbod. Mocht dat het geval zijn, heeft de staatssecretaris de motie Ouwehand niet uitgevoerd en naast zich neer gelegd.

Through seed coatings and granular applications, systemic insecticides pose minimal risk of pesticide drift or worker exposure in agricultural, nurseries and urban settings. Neonicotinoids and fipronil are also preferred because they appear to be less toxic to fish and terrestrial vertebrates. Initially proposed as environmentally friendly agrochemicals, their use in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs has been questioned by recent research that shows their negative impact on predatory and parasitic agents. New formulations have been developed to optimize the bioavailability of neonicotinoids, as well as combined formulations with pyrethroids and other insecticides with the aim of broadening the insecticidal spectrum and avoid resistance by pests. Indeed, as with any other chemical used in pest control, resistance to imidacloprid by whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), cotton aphids (Aphis gossypii) and other pests is rendering ineffective this and other neonicotinoids such as acetamiprid, thiacloprid and nitenpyram. This chapter (attached) examines the negative impacts that systemic insecticides have on organisms, populations and ecosystems. The efficacy of these products in controlling the target pests is assumed and not dealt with here – only the effects on non-target organisms and communities are considered.

Syngenta AG said there aren’t grounds for restricting the use of its Cruiser insecticide after European Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg called for laws which may control the product and sprays from Bayer AG. The Swiss maker of crop chemicals said any constraint on Cruiser, a neonicotinoid pesticide which protects crops from corn to cotton against insects such as beetles and centipedes, would cause significant loss to farmers and the economy, without helping bees. “We believe that a large number of European Member States agree and will make clear their positions in the coming weeks,” Syngenta spokesman Paul Barrett said in an e-mailed statement. Bee populations “are primarily under threat from disease and poor nutrition,” he said, challenging the findings of a European Food Safety Authority report, which said Cruiser threatens bee health. Borg will propose EU-wide legislative measures Jan. 31 on neonicotinoids, which kill bugs by attacking the central nervous system, he told EU ministers in a meeting yesterday. He said the measures would be “inspired by the precautionary principle,” although a total ban would not be justified. Borg’s comments are a blow to Basel-based Syngenta which won sales exceeding $1 billion for Cruiser in 2011, or 7.5 percent of revenue. The crop chemicals-maker is due to report full-year results on Feb. 6.

Two of the UK's biggest home improvement retailers have pledged to remove products from their shelves containing pesticides linked to the decline in the bee population. B&Q and Wickes, two of the best known names in garden centres and DIY, said on Tuesday they would remove products containing neonicotinoids. These chemicals, commonly used as pesticides, have been suspected for years of harming bees, but were identified this year as having a devastating effect on the pollinators. B&Q is banning the only product it sells containing imidacloprid, one of the neonicotinoid family of insecticides, and Wickes will later this year take off products containing the related thiamethoxam compound. Along with a third compound, clothianidin, these are the three neonicotonoids identified by the European Food Safety Authority as threatening serious damage to bees. The move by the retailers comes in response to long-running campaigns from various environmental organisations, who have warned of the links between the pesticides and bee deaths for some time, as studies have suggested links before the EFSA gave its final damning verdict. There will now be increased pressure on other retailers still stocking the products to follow suit.

The European Commission will put forward, on 31 January, a set of legislative measures limiting the use of neonicotinoids on crops attractive to honeybees, such as maize, cotton, rapeseed and sunflowers, in a bid to “ensure an equally high level" of their protection across the EU, Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner Tonio Borg told the Agriculture Council, on 28 January. The decision comes after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a study, on 16 January, identifying “a number of risks posed to bees by three neonicotinoid insecticides” (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) commonly used for the production of a number of crops across the EU. “These concerns call for swift and decisive action,” said Borg. However, he ruled out a total ban on neonicotinoids. “Our proposal will call for harmonised and legally binding measures, inspired by the precautionary principle, but also by the principle of proportionality,” Borg said. “In fact, a number of safe uses of these substances as regards bees have been identified by the EFSA. A total ban would not therefore be justified,” he added. A number of countries, including France, Italy and Slovenia, have already put restrictions in place on some uses of neonicotinoids in order to protect bees. “The Commission did not intervene in relation to such measures,” Borg said, underlining that now is the time to approach this issue in a harmonised manner.

Diese sind nach wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen mit verantwortlich für das Sterben ganzer Bienenvölker. Die Europäische Lebensmittelbehörde EFSA forderte deshalb, diese hochgiftigen Pflanzenschutzmittel, mit denen Saatgut gebeizt wird, zu verbieten. Zwar wirken die Neonikotinoide laut EFSA-Studie nicht unmittelbar tödlich auf die Bienen. Aber diese verlören ihren Orientierungssinn und fänden nicht zurück in den Bienenstock. Auch Abgeordnete des Europäischen Parlaments sprachen sich für ein Verbot der Pestizide aus. Der zuständige EU-Kommissar Tonio Borg hält trotz der beunruhigenden Schlussfolgerungen der EFSA-Studie weitere wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen für notwendig. Am 31. Januar beraten Experten weiter über mögliche Maßnahmen zum Schutz der Bienen.