Neonicotinoid insecticides and honey bee health
3.2.2012
Question for written answer E-001297/2012
to the Commission
Rule 117
Pavel Poc (S&D) , Karin Kadenbach (S&D) , Kriton Arsenis (S&D) , Janusz Wojciechowski (ECR) , Kartika Tamara Liotard (GUE/NGL) , Nikolaos Chountis (GUE/NGL) , Giommaria Uggias (ALDE) , Bas Eickhout (Verts/ALE) , Sabine Wils (GUE/NGL) , Csaba Sándor Tabajdi (S&D) , Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL) , Andrea Zanoni (ALDE) , Sergio Paolo Frances Silvestris (PPE) and Alojz Peterle (PPE)
Directive 2010/21/EU amending Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC as regards the specific provisions relating to clothianidin, thiamethoxam, fipronil and imidacloprid was adopted recently in order to address the problem of depletion of honey bees arising from exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides.
1. Can the Commission state whether the Member States have taken the necessary measures to comply with Directive 2010/21/EU?
2. Can the Commission supply specific figures indicating whether the legislative measures adopted (e.g. Directive 2010/21/EU and Regulation (EC) No1107/2009) are sufficient and are contributing to prevent depletion of honey bees?
3. What other concrete measures is the Commission planning to adopt in order to protect honey bees from neonicotinoids?
4. Following the publication on 30 May 2003 by the US Environmental Protection Agency of the ‘Pesticide Fact Sheet on Conditional Registration of Clothianidin’, can the Commission state:
- —if it is aware of the severe data gaps listed in the abovementioned fact sheet (‘developmental immunotoxicity study, additional analysis of test materials used in mutagenic studies, rotational crop residue fields trials with mature soybeans, aerobic aquatic metabolism, seed leaching study, whole sediment acute toxicity to freshwater invertebrates and field test for pollinators’);
- —if it is aware of the following, as stated in the same fact sheet: ‘Clothianidin is highly toxic to honey bees on an acute contact basis (LD50 > 0.0439 μg/bee). It has the potential for toxic chronic exposure to honey bees, as well as other nontarget pollinators, through the translocation of clothianidin residues in nectar and pollen. In honey bees, the effects of this toxic chronic exposure may include lethal and/or sub-lethal effects in the larvae and reproductive effects in the queen’?
OJ C 211 E, 25/07/2013