EU top court upholds ban on Bayer pesticides harmful for bees

The European Union’s top court upheld on Thursday the decision to partially ban three Bayer pesticides that are thought to harm bees.

Bayer will not be allowed to use those three products on certain crops after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed an appeal by the company, which argued that there was insufficient scientific knowledge to justify the restrictions.

The ruling covers three active substances - imidacloprid developed by Bayer CropScience, clothianidin, developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer CropScience, as well as Syngenta's thiamethoxam.

A spokesperson for Bayer said it was disappointed by the verdict. The company added that the products would be used in other regions with appropriate risk mitigation measures applied.

"The verdict seems to allow the (European) Commission almost carte blanche to review existing approvals upon the slightest evidence, which need not even be new scientific data," the spokesperson said.

Despite the ban, 206 emergency authorisations were granted for the use of the substances in the EU between 2013 and 2019.

In order to protect bees, the Commission has proposed targets to cut the EU's use of chemical pesticides by 50% and to reduce fertiliser use by 20% by 2030.