A total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe will be backed by the UK, environment secretary Michael Gove has revealed.

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The latest research leads the environment secretary to overturn the government’s previous opposition, making a total EU ban much more likely as new evidence shows neonicotinoids have contaminated the whole landscape causing damage to colonies of bees. It also follows the revelation that 75% of all flying insects have disappeared in Germany and probably much further afield, a discovery Gove said “had shocked him” and that:

“The weight of evidence now shows the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood,

“I believe this justifies further restrictions on their use. We cannot afford to put our pollinator populations at risk.”

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper Gove said:“As is always the case, a deteriorating environment is ultimately bad economic news as well. Pollinators boost the yield and quality of UK crops by £400m-£680m every year and for example, gala apple growers are now having to spend £5.7m a year to  replace the work of lost natural pollinators”.

The research published by the UK’s Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP), today states: “Exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides under field conditions can have an unacceptable effect on honeybee health. Such unacceptable effects are occurring at a landscape level and between seasons.”

Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific advisor at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said:

 “The important question is whether neonicotinoids’ use results in harmful effects on populations of bees and other pollinators as a whole. The available evidence [now] justifies taking further steps to restrict the use of neonicotinoids.”

Reacting to the new report Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said:

"Michael Gove is absolutely right to listen to the science and back a total ban on neonicotinoids. Study after study has shown these pesticides can harm bee colonies and contaminate our environment for years. Bees are vital not just to our countryside and wildlife but to the human food chain too as they pollinate many of the fruits and vegetables we eat. We cannot take any chances with their well-being. Now Gove should forge ahead with the promised reform of our broken farm subsidy system so that it supports the kind of agriculture that produces healthy food while also protecting our countryside."

Peter Lundgren, a Lincolnshire  farmer who farms arable crops including wheat and oilseed rape, said:

“As an arable farmer I have no problem with tougher restrictions on neonicotinoids, in fact I would welcome better protection for the bees and natural predators that are essential to farmers.

“I haven’t used neonicotinoids on my farm, on any crops, for eight years now, and I’ve had no decline in yields as a result.  But for the majority of conventional farmers to feel confident about a neonicotinoid-free future Mr Gove must significantly increase research into financially viable alternative pest controls.

“Innovation in farming is not just about high tech solutions, it’s about building on the good work that many farmers are already doing such as the best way to encourage natural predators to provide free pest control.”

Friends of the Earth’s chief executive Craig Bennett said: 

“Michael Gove is to be congratulated for listening to the experts.  The scientific evidence for a complete ban on bee-harming pesticides is now overwhelming. 

“Tougher restrictions on neonicotinoids are essential for our precious bees and the wider environment.

“To their credit farmers across the UK are already finding innovative ways to successfully grow crops without neonicotinoids, even ahead of the ban being extended.

See also : https://farming.co.uk/news/Farming-industry-responds-to-Defra%27s-neonicotinoid-stance