BASF Joins Bayer and Syngenta, Sues EU Commission for Restricting Pesticides Harmful to Bees

[Beringia]

- Bayer Corporation (also known as Bayer USA) is the Pittsburgh-based American arm of Bayer. Germany – headquarters of the holding company, as well as the subsidiary companies Bayer CropScience, Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer HealthCare

- Syngenta AG is a large global Swiss specialized chemicals company which markets seeds and pesticides. Syngenta is involved in biotechnology and genomic research.

-BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany.[2] BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik

full article
http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/science/science-a-environmental/47844-basf-sues-eu-commission-for-restricting-pesticides-harmful-to-bees.html


Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--November 12, 2013. On November 6 BASF, a German agrochemical company, took legal action in the General Court of the European Union (EU) to challenge the EU Commission’s decision to restrict seed treatment uses of the insecticide fipronil. BASF joins chemical companies Bayer and Syngenta in challenging the EU’s decision to restrict the use of certain pesticides that are harmful to pollinators.

Fipronil, a phenyl pyrazole broad-spectrum insecticide, was first introduced in the U.S. in 1996 for commercial turf and indoor pest control and is highly toxic to bees. A recent investigation reveals that fipronil is responsible for the death of thousands of bees in Minnesota. Fipronil also has been shown to reduce behavioral function and learning performances in honey bees. A 2011 French study reported that newly emerged honey bees exposed to low doses of fipronil and thiacloprid succumbed more readily to the parasite Nosema ceranae compared to healthy bees, supporting the hypothesis that the synergistic combination of parasitic infection and high pesticide exposures in beehives may contribute to colony decline.

The EU Commission’s decision to restrict the use of fipronil in July came after the Commission’s landmark decision announcing a two-year continent-wide ban on the neonicotinoid pesticides clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The pesticides have been linked to the decline in bee populations. Twenty-three European Union Member States supported the fipronil restriction, two Member States voted against, and three Member States abstained during the standing committee vote. BASF argued that its legal action against the EU is based on a disproportionate application of the precautionary principle. However, overwhelming scientific evidence supports the position that fipronil is highly toxic to bees