State pesticide regulators are encouraged by the US EPA's plan to restrict some neonicotinoid insecticide applications to protect bees and other pollinators, but believe that new pesticide labels and warnings need to be refined if there is any hope they will prove effective. The Agency released new pesticide labels in August restricting some applications of four neonicotinoid insecticides {AgrowUo 671, p 16). The EPA is "moving down the right road" but it is uncertain how the label changes will be enforced and whether they will improve protections for bees and other pollinators, says Brian Rowe, a pesticide manager with the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
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