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 -Published: Thursday, December 12, 2019 Court orders studies on the impact
of agrochemicals on bees By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Constitutional Chamber, in a guarantee of a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, ordered Wednesday the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct a scientific study on the effects of the use of agrochemicals that contain the insecticide neonicotinoids. The court said the study should look at health, the environment and honey-producing bees, a key species for biodiversity. According to the European Food Safety Authority, neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. The neonicotinoid family includes acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam. Imidacloprid is the most widely used insecticide in the world. Compared to organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, neonicotinoids cause less toxicity in birds and mammals than insects. Some breakdown products are also toxic to insects. The order, No. 2019-024513, was approved unanimously Sept. 6, and the court said it seeks to improve agricultural practices, as well as to protect the food security of the population. Following the order, the scientific study must be carried out within one year from the notification and in coordination with the ministry laboratory, the TEC University Laboratory and the University of Costa Rica. The resolution said that "if (in the study) there are serious risks or damages to health, biodiversity or the environment, including populations of honey bees, the ministry must adopt the corresponding measures to protect these constitutional assets." The Court ordered that in the protection of natural resources there must be a preventive and precautionary attitude to minimize degradation and deterioration. “This court has recognized the risk that the use of pesticides may entail and the importance of adopting suitable measures to regulate their employment. In the Costa Rican legal system, there are several regulations that derive that the activity of importation, manufacturing, marketing and use of pesticides is strongly subject to the power of the state to guarantee the right to health and the healthy and ecologically balanced environment,” says the resolution. According to Food and Agriculture Organization, the global decline in bee populations poses a serious threat to a wide variety of plants critical to human well-being and livelihoods, and countries should do more to safeguard these key allies in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Bees and other pollinators are declining in abundance in many parts of the world largely due to intensive farming practices, disease, mono-cropping, excessive use of agricultural chemicals and higher temperatures associated with climate change, affecting not only crop yields but also nutrition. If this trend continues, nutritious crops such as fruits, nuts, and many vegetables will be substituted increasingly by staple crops like rice, corn, and potatoes, eventually resulting in an imbalanced diet. "Bees are under great threat from the combined effects of climate change, intensive agriculture, pesticides use, biodiversity loss and pollution," said Food and Agriculture Director-General José Graziano da Silva during this year's World Bee Day. "The absence of bees and other pollinators would wipe out coffee, apples, almonds, tomatoes and cocoa to name just a few of the crops that rely on pollination. Countries need to shift to more pollinator-friendly and sustainable food policies and systems." Da Silva urged every single person to make pollinator-friendly choices. "Even growing flowers at home to feed bees contributes to this effort." The World Bee Day ceremony was at the agency's headquarters in Rome in May. A U.N. General Assembly resolution in 2017 established the international day with support from Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations. ------------------------ Should the ministry ban the use of agrochemicals that put at risk the bee colonies? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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