The NFU have been found out

Countries across Europe are exploiting a loophole to allow widespread continued use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides, two years after the EU introduced a landmark ban on their use.

The EU agreed a ban on all outdoor uses of the neonicotinoid insecticides clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam on 27 April 2018, in order to protect bees.

However, an Unearthed investigation has found that in the two years since the ban was agreed, EU countries have issued at least 67 different “emergency authorisations” for outdoor use of these chemicals.

In many cases these authorisations were granted repeatedly, or without any apparent evidence of an unusual or ‘emergency’ situation as justification.

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/07/08/bees-neonicotinoids-bayer-syngenta-eu-ban-loophole/#:~:text=The%20EU%20agreed%20a%20ban,in%20order%20to%20protect%20bees.&text=This%20means%20countries%20are%20repeatedly,and%20pollinators%20in%20the%20process.%E2%80%9D
Unearthed
08/07/20

I like to unearth the facts before judging.

Does it have clearance from the EU, Callistomen?

Who was 'the application' made to?

Whilst not exactly fake news, this is "genetically modified news", to coin a phrase.

It is proposed to use a very strictly limited amount of Neonicotinoids asxan emergency move on a small and strictly limited area on a non-flowering crop ie sugar beet, which would otherwise be decimated by a virus.

“Virus Yellows disease is having an unprecedented harmful impact on Britain’s sugar beet crop this year, with some growers experiencing yield losses of up to 80%. There are currently no other effective protections against this disease and there are serious concerns about the future viability of home grown sugar as a result.

"The application was not made in secret, in fact it was reported upon in the media three weeks ago."

NFU
11/12/20

You can’t trust the NFU. Not all farmers agree with them.

From what I've read so far it appears that tariff free access to the EU market will depend on UK conformity to EU standards and legislation.

It's seems likely that the EU ban on neonicotinoids will have to still apply to UK farming methods.

Neonicotinoids have been banned for all crops and is unlikely to be changed by the EU, although they are still allowed for garden use, several commercial products contain them. That is a battle that I think the environmentalists will win, there has been a notable decline in insects of all kinds over the last few years. Although none of us like creepy crawlies, flying insects for birds are important, as are pollinators and neonicotinoids have been used on a very wide scale it’s not just Oilseed.

If the UK does permit that and other chemicals it may well limit exports but the big issue will be traceability. If imports from other countries are allowed there will be much less control over chemical use on crops. There is also the GM issue, will they be permitted in the UK?, insect or disease resistance is a good aim to reduce chemical use, dont be surprised to see some changes there.

petra I don't think the French Government lifted the ban - I understood that it was a temporary suspension for a specific crop.

I am not condoning it - but several EU countries have allowed this. I don't think they are even able to "lift the ban" according to EU rules.

The point, as I see it (as GillT57 reports) is the sneaky way the NFU is trying to stop the request from getting out to the public.

Whitewavemark2

If they want to trade with the EU then they are being extraordinarily stupid

Tell that to the French farmers. The French government has lifted the ban on these pesticides.

Yes, but isn't this supposed to be one of Johnson's 'stumbling blocks'? He wants to trade with the Eu without adhering to the regulations set for the entire EU.

But wasn't it clear right from Day 1 that we would have to conform to EU standards if we wanted to trade with them?

Isn't that what made the EU a 'Good Thing' because they required all countries that traded with them to trade goods that complied with EU standards, so consumers within the EU could be confident in the quality and safety of everything that was imported?

The campaign against neonicotinoids was pretty strong in the UK.

But we also know that a strong Leave vote position was the cutting of red tape and standards. So we shouldn't be surprised. Farmers aren't all saints... and they have a living to earn...

Whitewavemark2

If they want to trade with the EU then they are being extraordinarily stupid

Yes, but isn't this supposed to be one of Johnson's 'stumbling blocks'? He wants to trade with the Eu without adhering to the regulations set for the entire EU. That is apart from the alarming health implications for the introduction of these toxic products. Just when you think things can't get any worse, along comes another. I fully expect that the UK will withdraw from the clean water initiatives which gave us Blue Flag beaches, The Daily Express will probably start campaigning for good old British sh*t in the water again now that those meddling foreigners can't tell us what to do.

Agreed Wwmk2

If they want to trade with the EU then they are being extraordinarily stupid

Doesn’t surprise me, this country will go backwards. The old banned substances will be back. The employment laws will change and it’ll be back to the dark ages.