Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the EU ban on neonicotinoids has been renewed; and if she will make a statement.

EU restrictions prohibiting the use of three neonicotinoids on some crops have been in place since 1 December 2013. Other uses of these neonicotinoids remain approved. The restrictions have been implemented in full in the UK and will remain in place unless and until the European Commission decides to change them. The Commission has mandated the European Food Safety Authority to carry out a scientific review of the effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators. The UK will participate in that process.