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Canadian beekeepers file suit against Syngenta and Bayer
Sep. 4, 2014
Beekeepers in Ontario have launched a lawsuit against Syngenta AG and Bayer CropScience, alleging their pesticides have caused widespread bee deaths that have driven up costs and reduced honey production.
The honey makers allege the two companies were “negligent” in the “design, sale manufacture and distribution” of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are used to grow corn, soybeans and many other crops.
The new lawsuit is seeking more than $400 million in damages, alleging that as a result of neonicotinoid use:
- The beekeepers' colonies and breeding stock were damaged or died.
- Their beeswax, honeycombs and hives were contaminated.
- Their honey production decreased.
- They lost profits and incurred unrecoverable costs, such as increased labour and supply costs.
The lead plaintiffs in the suit are Sun Parlor Honey Ltd. and Munro Honey, both of which are family-owned business in southwestern Ontario, the heart of the province’s agriculture sector.
In the statement of claim filed Wednesday, both companies allege they respectively lost more than $2-million in bees and honey production because of neonics between 2013 and 2006, when the pesticides became widely used in Canada.
Syngenta and Bayer did not respond to interview requests on Wednesday about the lawsuit. The chemical companies have said that honeybees do not absorb enough neonics in the field to suffer ill effects, and the pesticides are safe if used as directed.
Source: The Globe And Mail
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