Canada codifies new neonicotinoid insecticide rules, allows key agricultural use to continue

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Seeds treated with neonicotinoids.

Health Canada will restrict some uses of neonicotinoid pesticides because of their impact on honeybees and other pollinators, but the federal government isn’t ready to impose further limits that have been called for by some environmentalists and beekeepers.

In a decision announced [April 11], Canada will outlaw certain uses of three neonicotinoids starting in 2021 and 2022. These pesticides won’t be allowed for spraying on fruit trees, flowers and other plants that bees find attractive, and they won’t be allowed for use on certain plants before and during bloom season, the department said.

But other uses will still be allowed, including when the chemicals are coated on canola and cereal seeds and before they are planted, and when used on greenhouse vegetables.

“There may be additional restrictions over and above what we’ve decided here,” said [Scott Kirby, director general of Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)], referring to the pesticides’ impact on aquatic insects.

“[The April 11 decision] is strictly about the risk to pollinators, and for this assessment, not all uses posed an unacceptable risk to pollinators, therefore only a subset of the uses are being cancelled.”

Read full, original article: Health Canada releases final pollinator re-evaluation decisions for neonicotinoid pesticides

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