Pesticide manufacturer Syngenta has received the backing of the National Farmers' Union in its legal challenge against the EU Commission. Syngenta launched its opposition to EU restrictions on three neonicotnoids (of which it manufactures one – thiamethoxam, active ingredient in 'Cruiser' OSR treatments) in August, after the Commission passed a partial ban on the controversial pesticides. The ban is due to come into force in January.

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The Commission introduced restrictions in response to an investigation and recommendations made by European health watchdog EFSA; the agency reviewed information supplied by the pesticides' manufacturers as well as peer reviewed studies and declared that the chemicals pose an unacceptable risk to bee populations, which are undergoing alarming declines in the EU.

Syngenta claims the EU executive based its decision on incomplete evidence and an incorrect application of the precautionary principle, however, the manufacturers, alongside the governments that support their case (including the UK's), have themselves been accused of disregarding the principle, which governs current environmental protection efforts. The most commonly understood definition of the precautionary principal, agreed upon by governments from all over the world at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, states that, "In order to protect the environment... Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."

Furthermore, Herman Fontier, head of the EFSA pesticide division, told the UK Environmental Audit Committee in February that agribusinesses' claims the watchdog was acting on incomplete or flawed evidence left him "puzzled," adding that the companies had "submitted data packages, which we have evaluated, from the first to the last study."

Nevertheless, speaking at the UK Onions and Carrots Conference in Peterborough on Wednesday, NFU President Peter Kendall said, "I can confirm that the NFU will support Syngenta's legal challenge of the European Commission's hasty restrictions on certain neonicotinoids... We are planning direct intervention in the case."

Kendall continued, "This is critically important to farmers because maintaining a diverse range of pesticides is absolutely vital for productive and sustainable farming. Continual erosion of active ingredients on unjustifiable grounds increases the risk of pest, weed and disease resistance. That is why the NFU is concerned about the impact the restrictions will have on its members’ abilities to farm productively and sustainably, and we are also concerned that the restrictions demonstrate policy making by regulators without a clear basis in science."

The UK government declared in September that it rejects neonicotinoid science. Government science agency FERA conducted its own field study on neonicotinoids and bee health earlier in the year. The study was not peer reviewed and instead the results (which were inconclusive) were released directly onto the internet. In June, EFSA evaluated the government research and found it to be worthless, concluding that "Given [several identified] weaknesses, the Authority considers that the study does not affect the conclusions reached by EFSA regarding risks for bees related to the use of the neonicotinoid pesticides."