The scandal behind the ban on neonicotinoids
February 20, 2017
From: Rational Optimist
Matt Ridley
Brussels entrusted a known antipesticide activist with the task of preparing what was supposed to be an objective report on the testing procedures of pesticides. Instead, the EFSA working group, which included Mr. Arnold, resulted in a ban that contradicts scientific evidence and has devastated European farmers. Growers of oilseed rape have had to cut back on their plantings and turned to spraying with older, less safe pyrethroid insecticides, which can be especially harmful to aquatic invertebrates if they get into water courses. This winter 8.3% of the total British oilseed rape crop has been lost, with farmers blaming “savage flea beetle damage”. The total cost of the neonic ban has been estimated at some €900 million ($954.1 million) a year for oilseed rape alone. It would seem incumbent on the EFSA to at least perform a thorough investigation.
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The neonic ban is a paradigmatic case of the problems caused by Brussels’s adoption of an overzealous interpretation of the precautionary principle at the behest of environmental activists. The ban has hurt, not helped, the environment.
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