European Parliament passes pesticides bill (to save the bees)

[Robbien]

Source: AP

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - The European Parliament voted Tuesday to tighten rules on the use of pesticides amid fears it is posing an increasing danger to human health and animals like the industrious honeybee.

EU lawmakers approved two laws on licensing and use that will ban the most dangerous, cancer-causing pesticides across the 27-nation bloc.

. . .

The rules will force farmers and chemical producers to replace 22 high toxic products, deemed to be the most dangerous pesticides, over the next decade.

. . .
Threatened wild and farm honeybees were also given attention in the new legislation. Substances deemed to be harmful to nature's largest pollinators will be banned in an attempt to reverse the recent dramatic decrease of bee populations across Europe and other continents.

Many scientists believe the increased use of pesticides is a factor in the worldwide decline of bees.

Read more: http://www.pr-inside.com/european-parliament-passes-pesticides-bill-r1004634.htm

---

Here in the states, lobbyists for producers of pesticides don't allow our congresscritters to even mention bees and pesticides in the same sentence much less consider enacting laws to restrict pesticide use.

[Tashca]

1. I would like to see the list

I can't get the link to open...I really would like to see the list of 22. I don't care if it's by chemical name or trade name...

[Robbien]

4. That article didn't identify them

another article said: The chemcial blacklist includes eight substances used in the manufacture of herbicides, 11 used in fungicides and three in insecticides, many of them produced by Bayer and BASF -- including Ioxynil, Amitrol and Iprodion.


So far I cannot find where the complete list of 22 chemicals are identified.

[Tashca]

6. I got it to work

If possible I would love to see the list...
I've only heard of Amitrol on your list....don't know anything about it.
11 fungicides.....interesting...
Bayer has a huge arsenal of new chemistry hitting the market. I will be curious to see the list when available.
My reason.....Many times I have seen EPA like institutions put bans on old products about the time the patent runs out and amazingly enough a new substance appears to take it's place at a premium price. I guess I will reserve judgment until I see a complete list...

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. I can find a list of 23, which seems to have become 22

The European Parliament said, before the debate:

How many substances will be banned?

To place matters in perspective, when the existing EU directive took effect in 1991, over 800 active substances were used in pesticides. As a result of that legislation, the number has already been whittled down by around 50% without causing major problems to users. The new regulation is expected to remove only a small number of further substances from use, namely the worst remaining ones. Estimates vary as to how many this will be, but rapporteur Hiltrud Breyer believes a study by the Swedish Chemicals Agency KEMI, which was used as a basis for the compromise with the Council, gives the most realistic estimate available, with a figure of 22 existing substances likely to be outlawed eventually.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/briefing_page/45150-012-01-03-20081217BRI45149-12-01-2009-2009/default_p001c004_en.htm

And that study appears to be this: http://www.kemi.se/upload/Bekampningsmedel/Docs_eng/SE_positionpapper_annenII_sep08.pdf

There's a list of 23 on page 13, which includes all the ones listed here:

Permits for 22 substances known to cause cancer, harm human reproduction or damage the hormonal system will not be renewed, according to the new text. Exceptions will be made only for cases where there is no alternative product, or where the harvest is seriously threatened as a result of the ban.


Most of the pesticides concerned are produced by German chemical industry giants Bayer or BASF, and include Amitrol, Ioxynil, Tepraloxydim, Epoxiconazole, Iprodion, Metconazole, Tebuconazole and Thiacloprid.


Two of the fungicides – Carbendazim and Dinocap – will be banned already in 2009, but permits for other harmful substances will only run out in 2018.

http://www.france24.com/en/20090113-eu-parliament-supports-ban-dangerous-pesticides-chemicals

[Tashca]

8. Thank you

I need to run and will look more closely at these later..

I see a mix of recent (2003)like Thiacloprid which is a neonicitinoid foliar insecticide...

I also see an old fungicide......Tebuconazole.

Thanks for the info.....

[lovuian]

2. Its about time

I hope its not too late
Bayer and Monsanto will be banned in the US

[Robbien]

9. BASF, Bayer and Monsanto got an exemption from the EPA from pollution laws

Which Environmental groups have been fighting

Court Cancels EPA Clean Water Act Exemption for Pesticides
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-07-093.asp

Environmental groups today celebrated their victory as an appeals court vacated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that has allowed pesticides to be applied to U.S. waters without a Clean Water Act permit.

On November 27, 2007, the EPA issued the final rule, which states that pesticides applied in accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, are exempt from the Clean Water Act's permitting requirements.

. . .The EPA defends the rule by arguing that the terms of the Clean Water Act are ambiguous and that the rule is a reasonable construction of the Clean Water Act.

In their decision, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, "We cannot agree. The Clean Water Act is not ambiguous. Therefore, we hold that the EPA's Final Rule is not a reasonable interpretation of the Act and vacate the Final Rule."

The EPA really believes its job is to protect business.

[dipsydoodle]

3. The issue is also attributed to a virus

From 11 months ago :

A VIRUS which has wiped out billions of bees could cause a global catastrophe worse than climate change, scientists claim.

A race against time is on to find a cure for the Israeli acute paralysis virus.

>

And experts warn that a third of the world's food crops could be threatened if they are killed off.

Onions, cabbage, almonds, apples, soya beans and most berries and nuts are at risk. Plants used to make cloth, including cotton and flax, and those used for animal feed are also in danger.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2008/02/09/bee-virus-could-wipe-out-mankind-warn-scientists-86908-20313331/

and from 2007 :

Scientists have found a new prime suspect in the deaths of about a quarter of America's honeybees, a mystery that could take a multibillion-dollar toll on the nation's agricultural industry.

Months of genetic testing have fingered a virus that was first reported in Israel just three years ago and may have passed through Australia on its way to the United States. The correlation between Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus and the mysterious bee disease — known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD — was reported Thursday on the journal Science's Web site. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20612274/

The virus is named Varroa and had already been determined to be one main root of the problem in Europe. The other problem is considered to be loss of natural habitat - hedgerows etc. Even large scale organic farmers in the UK purposely plant beds of flowers in with vegetable crops to attract bees.

[Tumbulu]

10. my 2 cents

the honeybees are in a weak state and more susceptible to all pathogens when they are left to fend for themselves in large numbers during the non used months. Where I live in N. California beekeepers just leave their bees in our valley for the summer. They plant no summer flowering crops for them, they give them no water. They must fend for themselves. In a non drought year they may do just fine with the star thistle growing on the hills around us. But in drought years (as we have been having) there are not enough flowers in peoples gardens for them to be nourished properly. You throw in a bunch of pesticides, crowded conditions and guess what comes to knock the population down to an adequate size for their environment? The microorganisms to the rescue.

So, if beekeepers want to keep their bee colonies healthy, they need to rent land and grow flowering crops organically for their bees during the off season (I mean the seasons that the orange growers or the almond growers, etc are not paying them to bring the hives to them). Banning pesticides would be good for all of us, but in the meantime they could take some steps to actually care for their animals.

[dipsydoodle]

11. That's it -

look after them or lose them. :hi:

[surrealAmerican]

21. Could it also be that transporting the bees too frequently ...

... during the flowering seasons for various crops, is also a cause of stress? Especially here, where these insects are not native, and perhaps lack genetic diversity, we need to try to make conditions for these animals as close to what they evolved in as we can.

[Tumbulu]

22. Yes, I think that the using of the bees so roughly

stresses them. Transporting them all over the place has to be stressful. It is the republican/capitalist way of life, though. Just use anything, take everything and pay for nothing.

[bvar22]

13. Varroa is not a virus.

Verroa is actually a parasitic mite that can infest poorly maintained hives.
It looks like a small tick, and can be effectively controlled.

Verroa mites are not the cause of CCD, but can be a considered a stress factor.
As far as I've heard, the Israel Virus is just the latest (in a long line) of suspects in CCD.
There is some interesting circumstantial evidence being looked at (or manufactured), but no definitive pathology has been determined.

There are some very powerful and wealthy players in the CCD blame game.
As an organic BeeKeeper, I am watching this closely.

[dipsydoodle]

19. Yes and thanks for correcting me

On recall I may have misinterpreted what I'd been told about Varroa which was actually in reference to Europe. It was in connection with a customer of mine who imports, in volume, bees from Holland for use in the UK in commercial green houses etc.

Here's a link to our UK gov site on the subject : http://www.defra.gov.uk/hort/Bees/Varroa/index.htm

:hi:

[bvar22]

20. The one study I haven't seen is....

...the frequency of CCD in large commerical (Factory Bee) operations compared to the frequency of CCD among small scale decentralized organic Bee colonies.

In 2006, we moved to a very rural location in a still pristine part of the US.
We don't allow any herbicides, pesticides, or any other chemical on our hilltop that can harm our Bees (or us). We will lose a vegetable crop to insects before we will use any pesticides. We don't put our Bees on trucks and drive them around, and we don't force our Bees to live in overpopulated Factory Bee Slums.
There are no commercial agri-busineeses within 40 miles, no industrial pollution, and no urban areas.

We started 2 colonies in the Spring of 2006 (expanding to 4 this Spring). They are both healthy (and happy as far as we can tell). We also harvest only a minimum of honey, leaving plenty for them to eat over the Winter.

There are several other small scale organic BeeKeepers in our area who manage their hives like us, and none of us has experienced CCD. We have the normal problems like mites, moths, and beetles, and an occasional bear, but no CCD so far.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=246&topic_id=7979

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I live in Florida. Haven't seen bees until this year.

You know what they're attracted to? The flowers of wild vines that most homeowners take down as weeds. I happen to have a backyard habit and I let them grow wild and I've found two types of vines that always had one or two bees visiting each day when in past years, I saw none. Oh, and the vines grew in places where I never added anything to the soil, except for ordinary fertilizer.

[bvar22]

12. As organic BeeKeepers,

We applaud the European Parliament for this step forward.

[JCMach1]

23. I love bees and will probably raise my own in rural n. florida

when I retire...

This should be a good move...

[WriteDown]

14. I doubt this will do much good...

but if you can eliminate pesticides, its always a good thing. My money is still on a virus.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. It's not really about the bees - they're a side effect of it

It's mainly about human health. I've heard 2 or 3 reports on this, and this is the first to bother mentioning bees.

eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7825552.stm
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUKLD50162520090113
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ivtv7U_FViMlOWoCdD3osgKsxLzA

[bvar22]

17. I agree.

The Bees are just one of many Coal Mine Canaries that are indicators of much graver problems.

[defendandprotect]

15. Common Sense increasing ...???

[sui generis]

18. this is so funny

the EU already uses the least amount of pesticides on their crops of nearly any group of countries on the planet.

Bavaria has incredibly stringent requirements for when and how much of what can be used, so much that you can often see entire farm families on smaller farms and unincorporateds out walking fields in the early morning to spot treat and hand weed rather than irrigation or spray treatment regimens which are expensive and red-tape burdensome.

America is the last country on the planet who can make moral judgement about pesticides. My partner's family and livestock shat blood for a few days in upper Washington state last year after a neighboring farmer used a spray poison that is "not supposed" to be used near livestock but carries no law prohibiting its use around livestock and humans.