EU fires warning shot over neonic uses on sugar beet

摘要

EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides has issued a warning over the high number of emergency authorisations being granted for neonicotinoid insecticides on sugar beet. Since the EU ban on all outdoor uses of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in May 2018, and the non-renewal of thiacloprid in February this year, ten EU member states have “repeatedly” granted emergency authorisations for their use in sugar beet, she says. The Commission intends to ask the European Food Safety Authority to assess whether those granted for the 2020 sugar beet growing season are justified. It will prohibit any that are not, she warns.