Risk assessment for bees – Recent regulatory developments in Europe

In recent years few people can have escaped hearing about widespread concern for honeybees in both North America and Europe.  Although the timings of these concerns are similar, the issues in the two continents appear to be different.  In the USA, so called “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD) was first reported in 2006-2007.  CCD is characterised by sudden loss of a colony’s worker bee population with very few dead bees being found near the colony.  In Europe, the observed effects have been less dramatic, characterised by reduced hive strength, reduced overwinter survival resulting in overall reduction in honeybee numbers but still a cause for major concern.

Numerous possible reasons have been cited as the cause of declining bee populations but environmental NGOs, and in particular the European Beekeeping Coordination (EBC) have pointed the finger firmly at pesticides and the neonicotinoid insecticides specifically, and consequently politicians have become involved.  This has led to a lot of activity by regulatory bodies; in Europe, the Commission and the EFSA, and in North America, the US EPA, Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) working together.  This work is still in progress but it will ultimately lead to new testing requirements and risk assessment processes on both sides of the Atlantic.  

We will provide a brief summary of the recent lengthy and complex EFSA draft guidance document on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees).  The aim is purely to try and clarify what testing may be required in future based on this existing draft document, and how that data will be used in the proposed revised risk assessment scheme. 

From the EFSA draft guidance document, we conclude:

• The EFSA proposals for evaluating risks to bees are far more conservative than the current method,having much lower trigger values for demonstrating low risk.

• The proposals require the derivation of exposure:toxicity ratios for the first time, using data generated from data requirement proposals made in revisions yet to be implemented into EC No1107/2009.

• In addition to the risk from foraging in treated crops,the risk from pollen and nectar residues from other sources is necessary e.g. weeds.

• For the first time, consideration of the risk to solitary bees is required.

• At the end of the consultation period a high level comments had been received. This has resulted in a delay in the issuing of the revised document, originally proposed for December 2012. It is now expected to be available for limited for review in May 2013.

 
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