The Government yesterday approved the use of a banned neonicotinoid pesticide treatment on the 2022 sugar beet crop in England – despite strong opposition from campaigning groups and expert advice from the Government’s own advisers recommending against its approval.

The September 2021 minutes from the Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) meeting said:

“The Committee agreed with  the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) evaluation that the requirements for emergency authorisation have not been met” and “on the basis of the evidence presented to ECP, the Committee agreed that it is unable to support an emergency authorisation under Article 53 of Regulation 1107/2009”.

The advisers also concluded that pesticide water pollution caused by this decision will harm river life.

In January 2021, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) approved a request by British Sugar an emergency temporary authorisation for the use of a neonicotinoid pesticide treatment on the 2022 sugar beet crop in England, only due to the risk to the crop from yellows viruses, which could damage the UK’s sugar production.

The emergency authorisation was granted subject to strict conditions including an initial threshold for use, to ensure the seed treatment is used only if the predicted virus incidence is at or above 19% of the national crop according to independent modelling.

Defra - pesticide treatment can "now proceed under strict conditions" 

Following a relatively mild winter, yesterday Defra said modelling has predicted a 68% level of virus incidence, which means the threshold for use has been met and the seed treatment can now proceed under strict conditions

Defra said that sugar beet crops have been severely affected, with 2020 yields down by a quarter on previous years. Other pesticide and organic treatments are not sufficiently effective in controlling viruses. According to Defra, 63% of the UK’s sugar comes from domestic production of sugar beet which could be at risk if a significant amount of the national crop is infected.

The strictly time limited emergency authorisation of the neonicotinoid treatment - Syngenta’s Cruiser SB – is intended to provide emergency protection against the virus. “Its exceptional temporary use will be tightly controlled and only permitted in very specific circumstances when strict requirements are met,” Defra explained.

The maximum amount of treatment approved for use is 6% of the quantity of active substance applied on a range of crops in 2016 before neonicotinoids were prohibited.

Defra - UK’s approach to use of emergency authorisations “has not changed as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU"

According to Defra, the UK’s approach to the use of emergency authorisations “has not changed as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU, and is in line with the approach taken across Europe.”

12 EU countries - with significant sugar production - including France, Belgium, Denmark and Spain have granted emergency authorisations in the last three years for neonicotinoid seed treatments following the EU-wide ban - backed by the UK – coming into force.

A Defra spokesperson said:

“The decision to approve an emergency authorisation was not taken lightly and based on robust scientific assessment. We evaluate the risks very carefully and only grant temporary emergency authorisations for restricted pesticides in special circumstances when strict requirements are met and there are no alternatives.

“The threshold for use has now been met according to the independent scientific modelling conducted on the virus spread. Under the terms of this authorisation seed treatment can go ahead with strict controls in place to mitigate risks.”

Leading environmental charities and campaign groups condemn Government’s decision

A coalition of of leading environmental charities and campaign groups including The Wildlife Trusts, Friends of the Earth, RSPB and Pesticide Action Network have condemned the Government’s decision to give the go-ahead to the use of the neonicotinoid pesticide, commenting:

“Thiamethoxam is known to have a devastating effect on wildlife – a single teaspoon is toxic enough to kill 1.25 billion bees. Less than two months ago the Government adopted a legally binding commitment to halt the decline of wildlife by 2030 within its flagship Environment Act – the authorisation of this neonicotinoid flies in the face of this commitment and sounds a death knell for millions of bees and other insects.”

In February The Wildlife Trusts’ lawyers, Leigh Day, wrote to the Secretary of State, George Eustice citing explicit advice from the Government’s own appointed experts – and revealing contradictions in Government decision-making.

The Widlife Trusts said the decision to authorise thiamethoxam this year goes against the recommendation of the Government’s own advisors, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) – they both state that they cannot support the authorisation of the banned neonicotinoid pesticide.

The lawyers have pointed out that:

• The Government’s conclusion that “potential risks to bees can be mitigated to a low level” is flawed – this conclusion is unsupported (and, indeed, contradicted) by the advice and expert evidence given to the Government. And so, their conclusion was unsustainable and thus unlawful.
• The ECP specifically found that “[t]here is new evidence regarding the risk from neonicotinoids globally which adds to the weight of evidence of adverse impact on honeybee behaviour and demonstrated negative impacts on bee colonies.”
• The HSE found that the studies that were available to assess the chronic risk to honeybees: “… indicated that there is an unacceptable risk under the standard criteria for a commercial authorization”.”
• As regards mitigation, the HSE concluded that “[i]f ‘Cruiser SB’ [the neonicotinoid] is used in 2022, there are no obvious practical solutions for mitigating against the unquantified risks to bees”.
• The HSE, the Expert Committee on Pesticides and the Chief Scientific Officer all agree that there are known sub-lethal dose effects on bees, such as an inability to return to their hive after low-level exposure to Thiamethoxam. They also agree that the lower limit dose for such non-lethal effects is “unknown”.”
• The Government’s justification that circumstances justifying the authorisation were “special” and temporary, gave no indication that the alternatives being developed stand any prospect of success, and if they do, there was no discussion of the timeframe in which this will be achieved.

"Product that’s so harmful to pollinators, rivers and people"

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said:

“We’re faced with the shocking prospect that bee-killing pesticides will become the new norm with bans lifted every year. We need to know what plans the Government has for avoiding the use of a product that’s so harmful to pollinators, rivers and people.

“Why isn’t the Government listening to its own expert advisors? In the recent Westminster debate on the issue, this was the question many MPs asked – and yet the Government was unable to respond coherently.

“And why will Integrated Pest Management support not be available in the new Environmental Land Management Schemes for farmers until 2023? Defra could have brought this more natural approach forward in their recent farming announcements to send a clear message about avoiding pesticides wherever possible and supporting growers to use alternative approaches to farming without them.”