Insecticide use Regulatory agency continues to oppose ban as it develops best management plans
Although the Pest Management Regulatory Agency has concluded neonicotinoid insecticides on corn were a factor in last year’s Ontario bee kill-off, it says a product ban would have dire consequences.
The European Union has banned neonics for two years and beekeepers in Ontario and Quebec have called for a moratorium on their sale, arguing there is proof the chemical is responsible for bee deaths.
Prairie beekeepers responsible for most of the national production have had no problem with chemical-related bee kill oppose the idea.
Read Also
Canola support gets mixed response
A series of canola industry support measures announced by the federal government are being met with mixed reviews.
On May 9, PMRA environmental assessment director Scott Kirby told MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee that it is a complex issue not suited to simple answers.
After complaints of excessive bee mortality from Ontario beekeepers last year, the agency surveyed the damage and 70 percent of dead bees contained neonic products.
“Insecticides used to treat corn seeds are believed to be a significant contributing factor in many of the 2012 bee losses,” he said.
There is no evidence so far this year of a repeat.
The main culprit was corn dust containing the pesticide blowing from planting machines, early warm weather and robust winds during corn planting season, he said.
Kirby said PMRA started to work last year on a program of best management practices for farmers, warnings about the risk to bees and a re-evaluation of neonic insecticides to assess existing scientific evidence about their impact on bees.
The study will not be completed for several years.
Meanwhile, he told British Columbia Conservative Bob Zimmer that a ban on the insecticide product before scientific evidence is conclusive would have serious unintended consequences.
He said it would affect public and industry confidence in Canada’s regulatory system if a decision to ban was made without proof.
It would discourage companies from investing in products if a decision about their registration or availability in the market “isn’t predictable.”
And farmers argue that lack of access to seed treatment insecticides such as neonics would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production.
In an earlier hearing, Grain Farmers of Ontario vice-president John Cowan told MPs that if Ontario corn farmers could not use neonic products, the value of production on a 500-acre corn farm would decrease by an average $50,000.
That loss, he said, “would go right to the bottom line in terms of profitability.”
Kirby argued that scientific certainty should lead decisions on the impact of farm chemical products.
