Maintaining the Restriction on Neonicotinoids in the European Union – Benefits and Risks to Bees and Pollination Services

Globally, most crops are entomophilous (Klein et al., 2007), and thus yield is dependent on or at least benefits from pollination services. Wild bees are, together with honey bees, important providers of these crop pollination services (Garibaldi et al., 2013). Recent findings suggest, that bee pollination not only improves yield, but also the quality of agricultural products—including several aspects such as appearance, nutrient content, or shelf life (Klatt et al., 2014). Both, the amount and importance of entomophilous crops, are increasing (Lautenbach et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2015), thereby contributing to feeding an increasing world population (Godfray et al., 2010). However, bees in agricultural landscapes are exposed to several pressures. The use of pesticides, which is an integral part of contemporary agriculture, has among other factors been proposed to contribute to bee declines (Goulson et al., 2015), supposedly endangering pollination services (Chagnon et al., 2015; Stanley et al., 2015). Since the early 90s, neonicotinoids have provided a powerful and increasingly used tool against insect pests in many crops, including those visited by bees and other pollinators (Elbert et al., 2008). Concerns about negative effects of neonicotinoids on bees recently resulted in a European Union-wide restriction on the use of three neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam) as seed treatment in bee-attractive crops to allow time to clarify their potential environmental impacts (European Commission, 2013). Such a restriction beyond the re-assessment in 2015 (European Commission, 2013) will cause significant changes in pest control management (Hughes et al., 2014). While the debate in science, policy, and the public has focused on effects of neonicotinoid on bees, we argue that it is essential to also evaluate the consequences of alternative pest control strategies (Gray and Hammitt, 2000). The extent to which neonicotinoids benefit yields is not clear However, as the active substance is systemic and thus becomes distributed to all tissues, neonicotinoids can particularly target herbivorous pest insects in treated crops (Elbert et al., 2008). Thus, unless consumers accept higher food prices, restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids will require farmers to find suitable alternatives. Continued restriction of the neonicotinoids will most likely result in an increased use of other classes of insecticides. Organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids dominated the insecticide market before the approval of imidacloprid in the early 1990s initiated the global dominance of neonicotinoids as seed treatments (Elbert et al., 2008). Although many organophosphates and carbamates are no longer approved for …