Neonicotinoids

(asked on 20th January 2022) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam able to be readily purchased online; and what plans do they have, if any, to ban its import from China.


Answered by
Lord Benyon Portrait
Lord Benyon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 3rd February 2022

Thiamethoxam is listed under the Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC) which regulates the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals, for which the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has policy responsibility. Every year, GB companies need to submit to HSE details of the quantities of PIC-listed chemicals they have exported and imported in the previous calendar year. For imports, this includes the country of origin of the chemical.

Thiamethoxam is approved for use as an insecticide under the Biocidal Products Regulations in the UK. Thiamethoxam is not permitted for use as an agricultural pesticide. However, Defra have granted an emergency authorisation for the limited and controlled use of thiamethoxam in a neonicotinoid seed treatment on the 2022 sugar beet crop. Emergency Authorisations for pesticides are only granted where strict legal requirements are met, including a danger such as diseases or pests that cannot be controlled by other reasonable means.

As such, there are no plans to ban the import of thiamethoxam.

The HSE has not made an assessment of the thiamethoxam available for purchase online. However, Defra is aware of the risk of online purchasing of pesticides and plans to review policy in this area as part of National Action Plan for Sustainable use of Pesticides, due for publication later this year.

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