Government refuses emergency use of banned bee-killing pesticide on sugar beet
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The Government has refused to allow the emergency use of a banned pesticide on sugar beet to protect bees and other pollinators. The application to use the pesticide had been made by British Sugar and the National Farmers’ Union, as a seed treatment for sugar beet to protect against aphids that carry yellows virus – which can damage the crop.
But Environment Minister Emma Hardy decided not to grant the authorisation for emergency use of Cruiser SB, which contains the bee-killing neonicotinoid thiamethoxam prohibited since 2018 – the first time in five years the application has been turned down.
The Government said the decision was made on robust assessments of environmental, health and economic risks and benefits, with advice from Defra’s chief scientific adviser and its economists, the Health and Safety Executive and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides.
In its decision, the Government said lethal and harmful risks the chemical could pose to honeybees and other pollinators could not be ruled out. Levels of yellows virus are not expected to be as high as they have been in some years, and even under the “reasonable worst-case scenario” the vast majority of growers were not expected to suffer significant financial impacts in 2025, the Environment Department (Defra) said.
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