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We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ban the use of Neonicotinoid insecticides in crops grown within the united kingdom. More details
Submitted by Ian Forsyth – Deadline to sign up by: 03 June 2010 – Signatures: 1,051
More details from petition creator
a plethora of recent studies from Italy, Germany, America etc. are implicating Neonicotinoid insecticides (an insect nerve poison) in causing sub-lethal and lethal affects to honeybee's exposed to plants grown from seeds coated in Neonicotinoid insecticide or treated with Neonicotinoid insecticide - typically maize, sunflower and rapeseed - these sublethal effects, affect the bee's ability to orient itself and return to the colony; additionaly it is likely the detrimental effects are compounded synergistically as the bee is weakened and becomes more susceptible to natural disease, parasitic fungii and parasites such as varroa destructor - implicated in the world wide colony collapse disorder we are currently experiencing. neonicitinoid insecticides have recently been banned in other european countries and are being reviewed in the US - home of the corporations pushing these systemic insecticides.
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BeeDeath/
Government response
The Government does not intend to ban the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. There is no evidence that authorised pesticides pose an unacceptable risk to the health of bees.
Part of the authorisation process of pesticides is an assessment of risks to wildlife, including foraging bees and bee hives. Products are routinely restricted in the way they can be used (e.g. specifying dose rates, timing and place of application) to ensure protection of human health and the environment. The Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) investigated a number of bee deaths reported to it last year. None of these cases established neonicotinoid pesticides as the cause of death.
The active substances of this group of pesticides are all approved in the EU, although a small number of Member States have differing product restrictions for a number of reasons. In Germany there were incidents of significant losses of bees in 2008 due to failure to use an appropriate sticker to hold the pesticide on the seed, and poorly maintained application equipment. This resulted in the release of dust containing the pesticide and as the timing of drilling coincided with the flowering of neighbouring oilseed rape crops a number of bees died. The product was applied at a higher dose than is currently approved in the UK. Initially the German authorities withdrew approval for eight products used on maize and oilseed rape but since then, they have re-instated the use of four products containing neonicotinoids for use on oilseed rape. Measures taken by Slovenia followed incidents similar to those in Germany, but Italian measures are based on the German experience, and are a precaution while Italy develops a monitoring system similar to WIIS. France is concerned that the pesticide used to treat the seed moves in to the flowering part of the plant and hence honeybees may be exposed to it. As far as we are aware there is no evidence to support this concern. As part of the UK approval process this route of exposure is assessed.
