UK to ban bee-killing pesticides but highly toxic type could still be allowed

Bee-killing pesticides are to be banned by the UK government, as ministers set out plans to outlaw the use of neonicotinoids.

However, the highly toxic neonicotinoid Cruiser SB could be allowed for use next year, as ministers are considering applications from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar.

This powerful pesticide poisons bees by destroying their nervous systems. Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, has said that one teaspoon of the chemical is enough to kill 1.25 billion honeybees. Even at non-fatal doses it can cause cognitive problems that make it hard for bees to forage for nectar, and the chemicals can stay in the soil for years.

Ministers say they have identified legislative options that would legally prevent the future use of three specific neonicotinoids – clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam – entirely.

Paul de Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “An end to the previous government’s annual pantomime of granting the ‘emergency’ use of these deeply harmful pesticides is long overdue. But we’re not out of the woods yet – the government must follow through by fully committing to a complete ban come January. And it must go even further still, by scrapping the current, weak national pesticides action plan and instead produce a credible version.”

The former environment secretary Michael Gove promised in 2017 that ministers would use Brexit to stop the use of pesticides that destroy bee populations.

Instead, the EU banned all emergency authorisations of neonicotinoid pesticides, while since 2021 the UK government has allowed the emergency use of thiamethoxam every year.

While the pesticides are banned for general use, there is emergency authorisation during weather conditions when a pest called virus yellows thrives on sugar beet plants. These conditions have been met in the UK every year.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is under investigation by the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog after the previous government authorised the use of the pesticide for this year.

Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, said: “There should be no place in this country for pesticides that poison our bees, period. So it’s good to see ministers confirming their commitment to a complete ban on these bee-killing chemicals, but now they should waste no time in bringing it into effect.”

The environment minister Emma Hardy said: “We are delivering on our promise to ban toxic bee-killing pesticides and ending the long-term decline of our wildlife. A healthy environment is vital to our food and economic security. Protecting bees by stopping the use of damaging neonicotinoids is an important step in supporting the long-term health of our environment and waterways, and our farming sector.”