This page is a part of the corpus (Annexe 1) used to write Stéphane Foucart and neonicotinoids.
Here, I relate what the journalist said in his article “Les apiculteurs dénoncent l’autorisation d’un nouveau néonicotinoïde en France”. All quotes, originally in French, were translated by me.
The honey harvest were catastrophic, reaching a tonnage 3 times lower than in the 1990s. UNAF denounces the sulfoxaflor MA. This insecticide acts like NNIs and is like an NNI, just not classified as such.
“It is shameful, scandalous, pitiful and irresponsible towards future generations,” says Gilles Lanio, the president of UNAF. I still can not believe it ! “
This molecule was authorized in 2015, despite missing information and not excluding “a high risk for bees”. According to the spokesperson for the company marketing it, it is not an NNI and, “authorized in forty-three countries, is used on millions of hectares and no negative impact on bees or pollinators has been reported.”
ANSES authorized two sulfoxaflor products in September. The UNAF denounces authorizations made on the sly and translating a double discourse: “We authorize a product lightly and then procrastinate before withdrawing it, after fifteen years. Even N. Hulot’s Ministry of Ecology was not notified. NNIs treat 6 of the 28 million hectares of arable land in France. However, they are extremely toxic to insects and can persist in soils for several years: 3 years for clothianidin and 10 years for imidacloprid.
Farmers would not even have a choice: “It has become very difficult for them to obtain seeds that are not coated with pesticides – the content of which they do not necessarily know. Today, the cooperatives, to which three quarters of them belong, sell 70% of the seeds presented as real “guarantees all risks” and dictate their way of proceeding. “Farmers depend on cooperatives and cooperatives depend on pesticides,” summarizes UNAF. “ The decline of the bees would only get worse.
Another threat for beekeeping is the explosion of “honeys” from China containing a large share of sweet syrups. UNAF calls for labeling to indicate the origin of imported honeys.