APVMA pursues improvements to pesticide labelling to further protect bees

The APVMA met with representatives of the honey bee industry yesterday to progress the implementation of revised pesticide product labelling to reflect the potential impact of pesticides on honey bees and other pollinating insects.

The discussion resulted from the 2007 House of Representatives Inquiry into the Future Development of the Australian Honey Bee Industry, which released a report More Than Honey: the future of the Australian honey bee and pollination industries in 2008.

The report made a number of recommendations for the industry, including that:

• the Australian Government alter labelling requirements for agricultural chemicals to reflect their impact on honey bees and other pollinating insects (recommendation 4)

• the APVMA fast track the pre-registration of pesticides and other chemicals necessary to combat a Varroa mite incursion (recommendation 9).

Since 2008, the APVMA has worked with the honey bee industry, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Animal Health Australia to issue a number of permits for various pests. This includes Varroa mite should the pest appear in Australia.

The meeting brought together representatives of the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, Rural Industries and Research Development Cooperation, Capilano Honey and state and territory government agencies to learn about the environmental assessment process as part of the registration of pesticides, and to consider the standardisation of product label statements and the provision of industry information on bee and pollinator hazards.

Given the vast differences in the environmental impacts affecting bee and honey production in Australia compared to overseas, the participants stressed the importance of easy access to pesticide related information.

The APVMA recognises that the issue is far greater than putting hazard statements on a product label and will work with industry to make more product-specific information available to beekeepers.