Review of Bee Health

The NFU has been challenging the EU’s neonicotinoids ban in court today, telling judges the restrictions were not science-based and have had a real impact on farmers’ livelihoods.

***

Nina Winter, the NFU’s chief legal adviser, said: “The NFU originally intervened in these cases for two key reasons – firstly, because decision-makers need to have a sound basis in science for the decisions they take, and no such a basis exists for the neonicotinoid restrictions; and secondly, because the impact of losing these critical products on British farmers’ ability to grow crops was not properly assessed, and it should have been.

“The NFU felt that it was important that, in considering whether the restrictions are lawful, the EU General Court heard the voice of farmers whose livelihoods have suffered because they can no longer access the tools they need to farm. This is not just about the NFU fighting for oilseed rape producers; there is a wider issue at stake here about British farmers losing access to the products they need to maintain crop production over time.”