Written question asked by Daniel Zeichner (Labour) on Monday, 18 January 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 January 2021. It was answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 January 2021 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Neonicotinoids

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential adverse effects on (a) bees and pollinators and (b) other invertebrates of the measures proposed in the 2021 neonicotinoid authorisation for sugar beet to prevent the take-up of neonicotinoids by wildflowers and flowering weeds, including the (i) use of additional herbicides and (ii) removal of flowering weeds as a source of food.

Answer: Young sugar beet plants are vulnerable to competition from weeds and so effective weed control is a normal part of growing this crop. The measures proposed as requirements for the emergency authorisation are in line with normal guidance to growers and so will not have additional effects on pollinators or other invertebrates.

Secondary information