EU bans 'bee killer' insecticides but exports them massively
Neonicotinoids persist for years in the environment and are believed to be responsible for the collapse of bee populations.
© AFP - REMY GABALDA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
This is what reveals an investigation by the NGO Public Eye and Unearthed, the investigation unit of Greenpeace Great Britain, published this Thursday, November 18.
Three out of four crops in the world depend on bees and other pollinating insects, as well as one third of the world's food production.
However, since the large-scale introduction of these insecticides in the 1990s, three quarters of flying insects have disappeared from the countryside of Western Europe.
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They have been banned in Europe since 2018. Three insecticides from the neonicotinoid family are however still produced and exported by nine countries of the European Union.
With Belgium, France and Germany in the lead.
“
We were surprised by the scale of these exports: nearly
3,900 tonnes but in only four months,
denounces Geraldine Viret, spokesperson for the NGO Public Eye
.
This represents an area equivalent to all the arable land in France.
And we also see that more than 90% of these exports go to low or middle income countries, and countries which are for many areas which are central for biodiversity, such as Brazil, which is the main market.
"
►
See also: Pesticides in France, public funding too low to reduce their use
Reluctant Germany
In 2020, the European Commission has promised to stop the export of these pesticides, but nothing has been decided yet.
The agrochemical giants weigh on the discussions.
“
The risk ultimately is that we water down this proposal,
worries Geraldine Viret
.
Germany is one of those countries that are struggling a bit with the idea of an export ban.
Germany obviously has a large pesticide industry with Bayer and BASF.
"
Neonicotinoids persist for years in the environment and are believed to be responsible for the collapse of bee populations.
Yet, they are the most widely used insecticides in the world.
A market valued in 2018 at $ 3 billion.
►
To listen: Pesticides, a culprit-free health disaster
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Agriculture and Fishing