On the 12th of May European Food Safety Agency published its review of the guidance document on the risk assessment of plant protection products and bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees), which was originally published in 2013 but never endorsed unanimously by Member State representatives on the European Commission’s Standing Committee for Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.
Responding to the guidance document: “CropLife Europe supports a high level of protection for bees and other pollinators. The new EFSA guidance is of paramount importance to ensure risk assessments on bees for plant protection products can be conducted in a robust way. We believe that a preliminary alignment is needed on the elements of the proposed guidance that could be implemented systematically, before any endorsement for regulatory use. This could be supported through the development of case studies. It is up to end users (national authorities or applicants), to check if the document provides sufficient guidance, is workable in practice and can deliver scientific conclusions allowing robust decision making.”