Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her Department’s policies of the findings of the University of Dundee study on the use of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam neonicotinoid pesticides, published on 28 April 2016.

George Eustice

The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised if the scientific evidence shows they have no harmful effects on human health and no unacceptable effects on the environment. Good science is therefore essential for good decisions.

The Government will keep evidence on neonicotinoids under close scrutiny. The EU Commission has also initiated a review of the science, which will include evidence to address data gaps identified when restrictions on neonicotinoids were implemented in 2013.