Vote on the Com PEST Report: independence, transparency, risk limitation and efficiency are required
- Coordinación Apícola Europea de BeeLife
- Jan 22, 2019
- 2 min read
A little less than a year after it was set up, the Pesticides Commission, which is studying pesticide authorization procedures in the European Union, voted on its report in plenary in Strasbourg on 16 January.
With 526 votes in favour, 66 against and 72 abstentions, the adoption of the recommendations of the Pesticides Commission was accepted by an overwhelming majority. BeeLife is pleased that all "pro-pesticide" amendments have been rejected.
BeeLife was auditioned by this commission. During the hearing, scientific advisor Noa Simon-Delso was able to recall the dangers of certain products for bees, the shortcomings in terms of evaluation and the need for the application of EFSA's evaluation guidelines on pesticide risk for pollinators. The Commission has retained this information.
The report also calls for more independent national experts to represent the Member States within EFSA, to avoid conflicts of interest, and recalls the desirability of having all data available on time during the evaluation of an active substance in order to avoid the use of confirmatory data which allows potentially harmful substances to be found in nature. Other emblematic applications: that agrochemical companies make public all their scientific studies when applying for a marketing authorization and that the health authorities ban the "copy / paste" studies made by firms in their evaluation report of the active substances, like the now famous "Monsanto Papers".
MEPs also call for speeding up the implementation of the pilot project "Environmental monitoring of the use of pesticides by honey bees" and to set up an epidemiological study of the impacts of phytosanitary products on human health.
For Francesco Panella, President of BeeLife, it is essential that this important and forward-looking position is urgently translated into improved public decision-making at EU level.
- Fin...
Contacto: Andrés SALAZAR, BeeLife European Beekeeping Coordinación: comms@bee-life.eu
NOTA PARA LOS EDITORES:
La Coordinadora Apícola Europea BeeLife es una asociación formada por profesionales del sector apícola de distintos países de la Unión Europea. Su principal actividad es el estudio del impacto sobre las abejas de amenazas medioambientales como los pesticidas o los organismos modificados genéticamente (OMG).
BeeLife trabaja por la protección de las abejas basándose en el principio de que "las abejas sirven de canario en la mina de oro", haciendo sonar la alarma de que algo "va mal en el medio ambiente". No en vano, las abejas crean el 30% de todos nuestros alimentos al polinizar frutas, verduras y cultivos herbáceos como el girasol y la colza, por lo que tienen un valor inherente que la Coordinadora trabaja para proteger.
