BASF Criticizes Inclusion of Fipronil in EU Bee Protection Restrictions

BASF has taken issue with the European Union's move to include the group's insecticide fipronil, used in treatment of maize and sunflower seed treatments, in its temporary restrictions on products suspected by some of causing the bee disease Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). The two-year moratorium put in place by the European Commission in late April will go into effect in December of this year.

The inclusion of the BASF product follows a recommendation by the European Food Safety Agency, EFSA, which also recommended restricting the use of the neonicotinoid class of insecticides produced by Bayer and Syngenta. The German and the Swiss agrochemical giants also have protested the plan.

After two years, the newest scientific information will be considered and conditions of approval reviewed, the Commission said in April.

Remarking that the EU's decision "was derived from an assessment that focused heavily on new technical area for which no established regulatory evaluation criteria are yet available," BASF added that "sound data that underpin the safe use of our product for bees were not considered sufficiently."

Along with "the majority of experts," the German chemical giant said it "remains unconvinced" that the decline in bee populations is caused by multiple and complex factors and does not believe restricting fipronol will contribute to protecting bees.