Assembly (french) votes to ban pesticides that are toxic to bees
The National Assembly voted, this Thursday, the ban on pesticides from the neonicotinoid family. The decision aims to protect bees, whose vulnerability to these products has been scientifically proven since 2012.
Approved against government advice, the ban on these pesticide substances will come into force in January 2016. Conducted by Gerard Bapt and Delphine Batho, This measure follows those taken in 2013, in the European sphere, who had restricted the use of three active substances from the neonicotinoid family. The previous decision had been considered insufficient by the French National Beekeeping Union (UNAF) who asked, in June 2014, a moratorium on this entire family of neurotoxic products that disorientate bees.
The beekeepers finally won the case on this point, with Gerard Bapt stating that the ban covers the entire neonicotinoid family. According to the deputy of the Haute-Garonne region, This is to prevent the industry from withdrawing a specific product and replacing it with other related products (cousins). However, five other molecules that present acute toxicity to insects continue to be authorized in France.
On your part, the Minister of Ecology, Ségolène Royal (PS), voted against the ban, claiming that “the European framework does not allow for a strict ban.” So much so that the executive is already working with these arguments. Geneviève Gaillard (PS) positioned itself as unfavorable to the “gross prohibition” for fear of “impede government advances.” A UMP, It's the irony that prevails, in light of Antoine Herth's statements. The deputy for the Lower Rhine region (Bas-Rhin) opposes, stating that the problems of beekeepers are “multifactors” and relies on the negative nature of such a ban for French farmers.
Three times less honey than in 1995
The discussions are very far from ecological reality. Research reports a worrying bee mortality rate – from until 30% in the USA and 20%, average, to Europe – It seemed like time to act.. Evoking weather conditions “catastrophic for bees,” the UNAF raises this mortality rate to 50 and even 80% in the main producing regions of the south of the country in 2014. Honey production, in turn, was reduced by a third in 20 years, for the same number of hives. The Gerações Futuras association endorses this advance, but want “ensure that the amendment is not revised when it passes through the Senate.”
A little recognition regarding our pollinating insects, that ensure the reproduction of plant species, it wouldn't be too much. Its action generates a third of world food production. Without pollinators, there will be no more carrots, onions or apples. An estimated market loss of 153 billion euros, equivalent to Portugal's GDP. “The urgency of the ban” will seem obvious, in light of “a scourge of many years”, insisted the aptly named Laurence Abeille [Laurence Abelha], green deputy, ecologist, from the Marno Valley region (Valley).
Le Figaro: The Assembly votes to ban pesticides toxic to bees [Trad. R. Peruchi]
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