Guidance tightened on applications for emergency use of banned pesticides

THE Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has tightened its guidance on authorising the emergency use of banned pesticides.

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The new HSE guidance, announced on Thursday, aims to clarify and strengthen existing guidance to ensure that anyone applying for an authorisation to use a pesticide must take full account of the risks it poses to pollinators in their application.

It will apply to all pesticides including neonicotinoids, which destroy bees' nervous systems and are banned in Europe.

In recent years, sugar beet farmers in the UK have received special permission to use neonicotinoids to fight disease.

But ministers committed to ending the use of banned neonicotinoids in England and earlier this year denied an emergency authorisation application for the use of neonicotinoid Cruiser SB for the 2025 sugar beet crop.