Syngenta, CropLife America Lobby for Policy Change in EU Neonicotinoid Use

HoneybeeDespite the EU’s ban on neonicotinoids, proponents of the class of insecticides refuse to sit idly by.

European Crop Protection Association Director General Jean-Charles Bocquet says his organization’s members are working to provide reports outlining the ways in which this family of insecticides can be used safely to protect Europe’s crops in time to resume usage for the 2016 crop season.

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Bocquet, however, is not hopeful their efforts will reverse the ban, which began in March 2013, when some uses of neonicotinoids were suspended by the EU in Europe.

“The way neonicotinoids are presumed to affect bees is a very emotional issue,” Bocquet says. “So I think the decision in May 2015 about the suspension will be very politically driven, and the suspension could last longer unfortunately.”

Despite the pessimism, some members of the crop protection industry have worked to amend these restrictions through special-use exemptions. Thus far, none have been approved. Earlier this year, Syngenta filed and later withdrew a special request for its neonicotinoid product Cruiser used to treat rapeseeds. Syngenta withdrew its petition because it said UK regulators did not make a decision in
time for farmers to plant its treated seeds.

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Syngenta will likely reapply for the exemption next year, and Bayer has indicated that it plans to file for special uses as well.

In fact, the news might be getting worse. More recently, it’s been theorized that imidacloprid, the most common neonicotinoid, could be responsible for a reduction in some bird populations, although the direct link is unclear. It’s been suggested that the insecticide could kill birds directly or because there are fewer bugs to eat.
Neonicotinoids make up a vast majority of seed treatments; almost three-quarters of all seed treatments use a neonicotinoid, the largest crops being canola, wheat, soybeans and corn. The class constitutes about $2.5 billion in global sales, about 5% of the global agriculture chemical market.

Impact on U.S. Industries

The EU’s neonicotinoid ban “is a continual focus of activist campaigns in the U.S. courts, federal agencies and the media,” says CropLife America President and CEO Jay Vroom.

The EU has suspended their use based on the precautionary principle. The U.S. uses a different standard when considering which products to ban. Vroom says the overseas ban will not affect the use of neonicotinoids in the U.S.

“The EPA maintains confidence in the science behind its decision to uphold the registration of neonicotinoid insecticides,” Vroom says.

The U.S. government is responding to the concerns about neonicotinoids in a different way, as outlined by the presidential memorandum “Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators” issued this past June. The taskforce has until Dec. 17, 2014 to develop a national pollinator health strategy.

The agency is under pressure to follow the European approach. On Sept. 30, 60 members of Congress sent a letter to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy urging the agency to take action against neonicotinoids.

Vroom says he anticipates federal agencies will announce various actions in association with that deadline and release of the strategy, but “he can only speculate on what those actions will be” at this time.

At this point, private and commercial entities outside of the federal government are not part of the pollinator health task force operations.

However, Vroom says, along with several other organizations, “CLA contributed information on activities and initiatives of our industry addressing pollinator health, in advance of the presidential memorandum. The memo mentions development of public-private partnerships as part of the strategy, but no details of what this will look like have been shared with us by the taskforce to date.”

In addition to sharing information with the White House about the crop protection industry’s plans to address pollinator health, Vroom says CLA has offered “to discuss pollinator issues at any time, and sought appointments with both Secretary Tom Vilsack and Gina McCarthy.”

Industry Initiatives

While the U.S. federal government tackles the objectives laid out in the memorandum, crop protection industry members such as Bayer and Syngenta have been tending to pollinator health issues for some time.

Bayer’s Bee Health Program, including its Bee Care Centers in North Carolina, California and Ontario, Canada, is conducting research on leading bee health problems such as varroa mites, as well as focusing on outreach and advocacy.

Project Manager of the North America Bee Health Program Becky Langer says, the program at Bayer centers its efforts around the “C.A.R.E.” platform: communication, awareness, reduction and ensure

“The main thing we try to emphasize is growers and beekeepers need to communicate with one another to maintain healthy pollinators. That’s where it all starts,” Langer says. “Farmers should communicate with beekeepers so beekeepers know when the grower is applying insecticides so some mitigation efforts can happen. Stakeholders need to be aware of other influences such as wind that could cause aerial drift of products that could hurt pollinators. They need to reduce use of insecticides when possible and ensure seed treatments are done properly.”

Syngenta’s Operation Pollinator is doing its part to protect pollinator health by working with beekeepers and growers to provide natural habitat “to boost numbers of crucially important pollinating insects on farmland,” according to its website.

The biodiversity program creates specific habitats tailored to local conditions and native insects in hopes of recovering native pollinating species around the U.S. and Europe.

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