Bee deaths: EU delays action on pesticides ban

EU nations have been unable to reach agreement on proposals to ban the use of three pesticides that have been linked to the decline of bees.

A decline in bee numbers has been linked by the EU to use of some pesticides

The European Commission had called for a two-year EU-wide moratorium, but a number of nations opposed the plans.

A recent report by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) concluded that the pesticides posed a "high acute risk" to pollinators, including honeybees.

The commission is expected to redraft its proposals ahead of another vote.

Member states were unable to reach a qualified majority in order for the proposals to be adopted.

The news of the stalemate has angered groups that had been campaigning in favour of the ban.

Unknown consequences

A spokeswoman for Defra, the UK's environment department, said 14 out of the 27 EU nations - including the UK and Germany - had not supported the commission's proposals as they currently stood.

n a YouGov poll commissioned by the campaign network, 71% of almost 2,000 people questioned in the UK supported the commission's proposals to impose the moratorium on the insecticides.

Avaaz said that it, along with other groups, would be taking legal advice as to whether the outcome of the vote could be challenged in the courts.

The chemicals in question - imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianindin - belong to a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids.

The insecticides work by affecting the central nervous system of insects, causing paralysis and death.

From BBC News- Environment

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