Recommendations
13. Defra
must introduce a national monitoring programme to generate and
monitor population data on a broad range of wild insect pollinator
species to inform policy making. (Paragraph 13)
14. The agrochemical
industry should place the results of its risk assessment trials
in the public domain to inform academic research and increase
transparency for the public. Defra should work with industry and
academics to establish which, if any, genuinely commercially sensitive
details should be redacted to make that possible. (Paragraph 26)
15. We urge Defra
to introduce a representative range of sentinel pollinator species
in UK pesticides risk assessments and work to agree a similar
arrangement across the EU. (Paragraph 30)
16. We recommend that
the Government exercises its influence in Europe to empower EFSA
to include action points in future [pesticides approval] peer
reviews which the European Commission must explicitly address
before approving active substances. The Government should seek
a common understanding in Europe that active substances should
be assessed by the regulatory authority of a Member State other
than the one in which the applicant company is based. (Paragraph
40)
17. Defra must review
how it exercises the precautionary principle. Economic considerations
should not form part of environmental risk management decision
making, but rather should be a function of a distinct and transparent
subsequent political process. (Paragraph 69)
18. Defra must develop
the UK National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides
in line with both the spirit and the requirements of the European
Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. To that end, Defra
should prioritise the development of the action plan in its business
plan and accordingly provide an appropriate level of resource.
The UK plan should include quantitative objectives, targets, measures,
timetables and indicators, as stipulated by the directive. The
promotion of integrated pest management principles is a key feature
of the EU Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, and
Member States are required to implement the provisions on IPM
by 1 January 2014. Defra should introduce clear incentives for
farmers to drive take up of IPM. (Paragraph 80)
19. Defra should prepare
to introduce a moratorium in the UK on the use of imidacloprid,
clothianidin and thiamethoxam on crops that are attractive to
bees by 1 January 2014, and support such a proposal in the EU.
(Paragraph 81)
20. Defra must immediately
withdraw the approvals for use in the UK of neonicotinoid pesticides
marketed for amateur application in private gardens and on amenities
in order to create neonicotinoid-free zones for pollinators in
non-agricultural areas. (Paragraph 84)
21. In its forthcoming
review of advice, incentives and voluntary initiatives for farmers,
Defra should give prominence to measures which would support bees
and other pollinators, including leaving land un-cropped. (Paragraph
88)
22. The Government's
stance in negotiations in Europe on the new CAP package should
be to push measures which offer meaningful pollinator support
within the environmental schemes qualifying for payment. And from
that baseline, the Government should then follow a similar outlook
in designing qualifying initiatives in England (the devolved Administrations
would manage their own schemes). (Paragraph 91)
23. Defra should prioritise
its work on valuing ecosystem services and at an early stage in
that work address the particular case study of pollinators to
ensure that policy making on insecticides fully reflects not only
direct financial costs but wider environmental costs. (Paragraph
95)
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