MEPs urge pesticide ban to save the bees

THE EU could soon introduce further restrictions on the use of pesticides that harm bees.

The bloc’s food safety authority last week confirmed that chemicals known as neonicotinoids, which have a chemical structure similar to nicotine, “represent a risk to wild bees and honeybees”.

Three of the chemicals — clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam — which act on insects’ central nervous systems, are already subject to restrictions in the EU.

They have been linked to worldwide declines in honeybee numbers, which the UN says could threaten global food supplies, as 84pc of plants and 76pc of food production depends on pollination.

MEPs last week called for a ban on all pesticides with scientifically proven negative effects on bee health, including neonicotinoids.

They also called for increased funding for beekeeping and research, stricter border checks on imported honey and for honey to be treated as a “sensitive” product in EU trade talks.

However, farmers’ federation Copa and Cogeca said the EU should “assess carefully” which uses of the chemicals could be approved.

The EU is the world’s second biggest honey producer after China, with 600,000 bee keepers producing about 250,000 tonnes of honey each year.

The EU also imports about 200,000 tonnes of honey, mainly from China, Ukraine, Argentina and Mexico but tests by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre showed that 20pc of samples do not respect EU standards, MEPs said.