European Parliament stops Commission from importing food with residues of highly toxic pesticide thiacloprid

Thiacloprid was banned in 2020 because of its toxicity to the unborn, and concerns about the contamination of groundwater with carcinogenic metabolites. Thiacloprid is also highly toxic to bees and other pollinators. While EU law foresees that citizens and the environment should not be exposed to substances that are classified as 'Toxic to reproduction category 1B', the Commission attempted to give derogations for imported food, raising up to 1000 fold the exposure of citizens. Food grown with this chemical would be imported, putting EU farmers in an unfair competition. With this move, the Commission would give its consent to continue the use of this dangerous chemical in third countries jeopardising the health of local communities and biodiversity.

CONTINUE READING ON www.pan-europe.info