Press releases
On May 2, experts from around the world will gather in Rome for a global symposium on soil pollution. The event, organised jointly by several UN agencies, offers an important opportunity to highlight the urgent need to invest in soil health, according to the leaders of Pesticide Action Network (PAN) International.
Today, Member States have backed the proposal from the European Commission to ban all outdoor uses of 3 bee-killing neonicotinoids. By the end of the year, imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam insecticides will finally disappear from our environment for the sake of our bees. PAN Europe warmly welcomes the European Commission’s steadiness in resisting to several Member States and the agroindustry that favour unsustainable practices in conventional farming.
In 2013 the Pesticide Action Network lodged a complaint with the EU Ombudsman on the derogation used by Commission service DG SANTE called „confirmatory information” This derogation makes it possible to approve pesticides even when the EU Food Authority EFSA has not concluded they are safe to use and when important data gaps still exist. These derogations have allowed for bans and discontinuation of use of numerous pesticides to be avoided, and has gradually become a standard procedure used by DG SANTE.
The Directorate General for Health (DG Sante) of the European Commission has confirmed today that EU Member States will be invited to vote on its proposal to ban all outdoor uses of neonicotinoids on 27 April. Based on the conclusions from November 2016 from the European Food Safety Authority, DG Sante is finally putting to a vote its March 2017 aiming to protecting bees.
Il Comune di Bolzano entra a far parte della Rete Europea delle Città Libere dai Pesticidi, un progetto ideato daPAN Europe (PesticideAction Network), ONG con sede a Bruxelles, sorta nel 1987 con l'obiettivo di limitare l'uso di pesticidi di sintesi rimpiazzandoli con alternative sostenibili, al fine di tutelare la salute dei cittadini e la biodiversità dell’ambiente.
On the 3rd day of the Pesticide Action Week[1], EU Member States are gathering today in the Standing Committee on phytopharmaceuticals to discuss about the toxicity of neonicotinoids on bees. The European Commission’s 12 months old regulation proposal to ban neonicotinoids will, again, not be voted upon by Member States. The EU is here sadly showing once again the little ambition it has to effectively protect pollinators.
Tomorrow is the UN World Water Day (22nd March) and 3rd day of the Pesticide Action Week 2018[1]. PAN Europe takes the opportunity to highlight the widespread pesticide contamination of European waters and the urgent need for decision makers to take action and finally protect our water supplies and the environment.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published today 3 reports on the new scientific findings on the toxicity of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin (neonicotinoids) to bees. The Authority highlights that most studies show that neonicotinoids have a negative impact on bees’ health, from damaging their orientation capacity to impairing their reproductive ability. On 22 March, the European Member States will have the possibility to vote for a ban on neonicotinoids; hopefully these reports will contribute to a total ban.
In 11 out of 12 EU pesticide risk assessment methods studied by the Pesticide Action Network it turns out that they were developed or promoted by industry. Harmfull effects observed in animal safety studies on pesticides can be swept under the carpet with these methods.
Today, the popular initiative Sauberes Wasser für All (“For Clean Drinking Water and a Healthy Diet – Stop Subsidies allocated for Pesticides and Antibiotics for Prophylactic use”) was officially submitted to the Swiss Federal Chancellery in Bern. It proposes a total ban on synthetic agrichemicals such as pesticides in order to protect public health and the environment.
