News Release

Senate flags concerns about neonicotinoid pesticides

VANCOUVER – This afternoon in Ottawa, the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry released its findings on bees and bee health. In its report, the Committee lists nine recommendations for improving bee health, specifically calling for the government to:

• reduce the number of “conditional registrations” granted to neonicotinoid pesticides
• continue to monitor bee health, and re-evaluate three neonicotinoid pesticides without delay
• improve pollinator habitat in order to achieve floral diversity

The Committee launched its study in November of 2013, and was tasked with studying the importance of bees in agricultural production, the current state of pollinators in Canada, the factors affecting bee health, including pesticides and disease, as well as strategies for governments to ensure bee health.

Over the past 20 years, bees and wild pollinators in Canada and across the globe have undergone dramatic die-offs and population declines. Although disease, habitat loss, climate change and parasites have all played a role in the decline, it is a class of deadly pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) that has emerged as a key concern for scientists.

“I testified as an expert witness before the Senate Committee on bee health, and I am pleased to see the Committee has recognized the importance of bees to the well-being of our environment and agricultural system,” said Gwen Barlee, Policy Director with the Wilderness Committee. “However, I wish they had called for clearer and more immediate action regarding the dangers of neonic pesticides.”

Neonics disrupt the central nervous system of insects at lower doses, and at higher doses cause paralysis and death. Introduced in early 1990s, neonics are now the most widely used class of pesticides in the world. The pesticides are “systemic,” which means they are absorbed and permeate all the tissues of the plant, including pollen and nectar. By weight, neonics are 5,000 to 10,000 times more toxic than DDT.

In 2014 the international Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, comprised of 50 independent scientists, evaluated 800 peer-reviewed papers on neonics and concluded there was clear evidence of harm sufficient to trigger regulatory action. In 2013, the European Union implemented a two-year moratorium on neonicotinoids, and after a series of catastrophic bee kills Ontario has enacted policies to heavily reduce neonicotinoid usage on corn and soybean crops.

“Neonics were expressly designed to kill insects – so it is no surprise they are dangerously efficient at killing bees,” said Barlee. “This Friday, May 29th, municipalities and provinces across Canada will be celebrating the Day of the Honey Bee. If we really want to celebrate honey bees, we must ban the pesticides that are killing them.”

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For more information, please contact:

Gwen Barlee | Policy Director, Wilderness Committee – (604) 202-0322

Additional resources:

Senate Committee report on bee health
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/412/agfo/rms/02may15/Home-e.htm

Senate testimony of Gwen Barlee
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/412/agfo/08ev-51298-e.htm

Photo: Beekeeper and hive (Rainer Stropek via Flickr)