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Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · European Union · 2018

EU bans three neonicotinoid pesticides outdoors in 2018; Turkey follows in part

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

The EU banned outdoor use of three neonicotinoid insecticides in 2018 over the risk to bees, and Turkey later restricted them in part. Greenpeace reported that EU companies planned to export 13,274 tonnes of neonicotinoids banned in the EU in 2021.

What?
The EU banned outdoor use of three neonicotinoid insecticides in 2018 because of the risk to bees; Turkey withdrew one of them and restricted the others on some products. PotatoPro
Where?
European Union; Turkey PotatoPro
When?
EU outdoor ban in 2018; Turkey's restrictions from the end of 2018, with clothianidin withdrawn from mid-2019. Greenpeace Türkiye
Who?
Gained
Lost
  • Bees — exposed to three neonicotinoids applied outdoors until the 2018 ban PotatoPro
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The restrictions cite the risk to bees. PotatoPro
How?
Regulatory restrictions on outdoor use of three neonicotinoids; Turkey restricted by product. Bayer and Syngenta ran bee-health programmes from 2009 and 2012, and the EU General Court rejected the companies' challenges in May 2018; the Court of Justice rejected Bayer's appeal in May 2021.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The European Union banned outdoor uses of imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam in 2018 over the risk to bees (PotatoPro 2018).

Turkey decided at the end of 2018 to withdraw clothianidin from mid-2019 and banned the other two on some products (Greenpeace Türkiye).

Greenpeace NL, with Unearthed and Public Eye, reported that EU companies planned to export 13,274 tonnes of neonicotinoids banned in the EU in 2021, with the Netherlands fifth among exporters (2023).

Foodwatch (2024) reported that seven banned pesticides found by the Dutch food regulator in imported food matched Dutch companies' export notifications.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not state Turkey's current monitoring of the restrictions.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not measure whether bee populations recovered after the 2018 ban.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not show an independently measured effect of the companies' bee-health programmes.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    Researchers

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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