Italy's neonicotinoid bans help bees

摘要

In a letter sent to the European Parliament Agriculture Committee on 8th July 2011 the Italian bee health monitoring network APENET presented its findings on the benefits to bee health of restricting the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the production of maize crops. The letter was sent in order to feed evidence into the Agriculture Committee's deliberations on a report on bee health. The report which has yet to be finalised should be available later this year. In September 2008, the Italian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture decided to apply the precautionary principle, and suspended use of the neonicotinoid and systemic insecticides clothianidin, thi-amethoxam, imidacloprid and fipronil on maize treated seeds. This has been a continuous suspension running through 2009, 2010 and up until at least the autumn of 2011.