The NFU has submitted a second appeal for a derogation of restricted neonicotinoid pesticides after its first appeal was rejected earlier this month.

At the beginning of July, the Health and Safety Executive’s Chemical Regulatory Directive (CRD) turned down the NFU’s application to use certain neonicotinoids that had been subjected to heavy restrictions by the EU Commission on oilseed rape crops. The CRD stated that the NFU’s appeal had not been sufficiently limited or controlled.

On Thursday, the union announced that it had submitted further applications to the CRD to make neonicotinoid seed treatments available for farmers in areas where there is a high risk of flea beetle damage for autumn drilling.
 
NFU leaders, who contested that their first application made a “sound case” for limited use of the controversial products, and pointed out that farmers in five other EU states had been granted derogations, said its newly submitted applications are much narrower in scope than the previous ones.

NFU Vice-President Guy Smith said, “We realise that the use applied for isn’t as wide as is needed; flea beetle has devastated many crops across the country and we have limited foresight of where the pest will emerge next season. But we hope by making this second round of applications, we can provide relief from the pest for at least some farmers.”
 
On thursday Smith and Mike Hambly, the NFU’s crops board chair, urged government assessors to make a swift decision on the new application, having criticised the time taken for a verdict to be reached last time.

The products in question were subjected to a ‘partial ban’ in 2013 in light of a growing amount of evidence linking them with impacts on the health of bees and other pollinating insects.

On Friday, the Guardian reported that government pesticide advisors had been “gagged” after they recommended rejecting the NFU’s first application. Reports suggest that Defra officials asked the Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) not to publish details of meetings, which appears to go against its commitment to transparency.

Figures from AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds suggest 3.5% of the oilseed rape crop sown in late 2014 has been lost to flea beetle damage.