In a long expected move, the EU Standing Committee, an advisory board to the European Council, on Apr. 27 voted to impose a total ban on neonicotinoid-based insecticides, extending and strengthening the moratorium in place since 2014. The decision followed the latest scientific assessment by the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, published in early March.

The new regulations, largely aimed at protecting bee populations, are due to be adopted by the Commission in the coming weeks and will take effect from the end of 2018.

Altogether 18 member states, led by France, Germany, Italy and the UK –putting a uniform face forward for the first time on this question – endorsed the European Commission’s proposal, thus constituting a qualified majority.

While the votes of individual member states are generally not published, unconfirmed reports said countries voting against the ban were Hungary, Romania, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Under the new rules, all outdoor uses of the three chemicals of the three active ingredients in the neonic-based crop protection agents produced by Bayer and Syngenta – imidacloprid and clothiandin and  thiamethoxam respectively – will be subject to the ban. In future, their use will be permitted only in greenhouses, where they have no contact with bees.

For a fourth neonicotinoid chemical, acetamiprid, EFSA has determined a low risk to bees, and its registration was subsequently renewed until 28 February 2033. A fifth substance, thiacloprid, is under review as a candidate for substitution, based on its endocrine disrupting properties. The current approval expired on Apr. 4.

Neonics are systemic pesticides, which means they are taken up by the plant and transported through the treated leaves, flowers, roots and stems, as well as pollen and nectar. The latter function makes them especially harmful to bees

The 2014 EU ban halted spraying of the chemicals on crops attractive to bees, including sunflowers, oilseed rape and maize. A final decision on whether to make the moratorium permanent had been scheduled for December 2017, but was postponed pending release of the EFSA report.

After evaluating 1,500 studies, the food safety authority said the evidence confirmed that foraging bees are exposed to harmful levels of pesticide residues – in particular those of the three neonics – in pollen and nectar of treated fields and contaminated areas nearby, as well as in drifting dust.

Commenting on the decision, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis said protection of bees is an important issue for the Commission as it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment.

From the outset, neonic pesticide producers and some farmers’ groups have pushed back strongly again curbs on use of the products. Following last week’s decision, Syngenta called the extension of the restrictions ”not the right outcome for European farmers or the environment.” Bayer did not comment.

The Swiss agrochemicals giant also questioned EFSA’s conclusions. “The evidence clearly shows that neonicotinoids pose a minimum threat to bee health compared to a lack of food, diseases and cold weather,” it asserted. The EU pesticide industry association, ECPA, aid European agriculture “will suffer as a result of this decision.”

For the environmental side, Greenpeace called the extended restrictions “great news for pollinators and our wider environment,” adding that the EU “must make sure that they are not simply swapped with other harmful chemicals.”

Greenpeace said research indicates that several other insecticides are a threat to bees, including four neonics currently allowed in the EU, including sulfoxaflor and flupyradifurone in addition to acetamiprid and thiacloprid. Cypermethrin, deltametrin and chloropyrifos are also considered to be candidates for restriction.

Neonic discussion still raging in the US

Across the Atlantic, the discussion over the future of neonicotinoid insecticides is still in full swing as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its review of their registration conducted every 15-years.  Public comments were accepted up to Apr. 21.

Environmentalists are concerned that the EPA bases its assessment primarily on data supplied by producers. Moreover, critics of the agency’s rules add, seeds treated with neonics are exempt from regulation, as they are not considered to be pesticides.

In 2017, the US environmental watchdog temporarily  banned approval of any new outdoor neonic-based insecticides while the review continues, but left it to individual states to pass their own rules. In January of this year, Maryland became the first to bar use of the products in home and garden applications but did not extend the ban to agricultural crops.

The EPA is currently reviewing another highly controversial crop chemical, glyphosate, whose EU registration was recently extended for five years, following a protracted discussion. The US agency last year denied a petition to revoke all tolerances for chlorpyrifos while it continues reviewing the substance up to 2022. Some environmental groups said the action was taken after an intervention by Dow Chemical.