Neonic future unclear in NZ

Following last week’s EU announcement (see sidebar) Rural News asked the Environmental Protection Authority, which regulates use of such products here, if it was reviewing, or considering a review of neonicotinoid approvals.

The EPA did not directly answer that and other questions within Rural News’ deadline, but in a written response (nobody was available for interview) defended the approvals process.

If evidence suggests a substance poses any risk to invertebrates such as bees, this automatically triggers controls to manage those risks, including preventing the substance being used on flowering plants, or in areas where bees may forage, it said.

It also said New Zealand’s regulations are already as tight as the new European controls on neonicotinoid use. That’s despite the EU ban on use, even as a seed treatment, in flowering crops such as oilseed rape, maize and sunflower (see sidebar). In New Zealand neonicotinoid approvals include seed treatment of pumpkin, squash, maize and potatoes, all of which flower, and Rural News understands they’re also used off-label in brassica and other vegetable seed crops. Some neonicotinoids are approved for spraying on crops such as kiwifruit and pipfruit, albeit with a provision that flowering is avoided.

National Beekeepers Association president Barry Foster said as yet the association has refrained from calling for a ban on neonicotinoids here. “Our position is more that all the systemic pesticides need to be more closely monitored.”

At present, only a pesticide’s impact on adult bees is assessed in the approvals process but in some cases adult bees are a lot less sensitive than larvae or queens, he says. While these other developmental stages are hive-bound, foraging adults can bring traces of chemicals back on their bodies and/or in feed for the hive.

Foster also points out the combined effect of sub-lethal doses of pesticides plus viral pathogens or parasites such as varroa isn’t fully understood.

Exports of direct bee products alone are worth at least $100m/year to New Zealand but the value of industries dependent on bees for production, such as kiwifruit, is estimated at $5bn/year, he says.

“The health of our bees has not had the attention it really deserves when you look at their value in the economy from a pollination point of view. As an agricultural country we rely heavily on the honey bee and its health.”

Agcarm, the crop protection industry body in New Zealand, says the EU move is an example of politicians making decisions that should be left to regulators.

“It’s been taken out of the hands of the scientists,” Agcarm chief executive Graeme Peters said, just hours after returning from a visit to Europe where he talked with “key stakeholders” on the neonicotinoid issue, including the Bee Research Centre. 

“It’s a bleak day for the crop protection industry, farmers and growers in the EU.

“There is no evidence of neonicotinoids causing problems for bees in New Zealand. Just because the EU bans something it doesn’t mean New Zealand should follow suit.”