- Home
Bayer CropScience: Clothianidin is safe to bees when correctly applied
Monday, June 23, 2008
Expert hearing in Karlsruhe
Bayer CropScience: Clothianidin is safe to bees when correctly applied
Beekeepers to receive non-bureaucratic financial assistance / Quality assurance system in preparation
Karlsruhe, June 23, 2008 – “Seed treatments are one of the most targeted and environmentally friendly forms to apply crop protection products. We regret the recent bee losses and the situation they have created for the beekeepers in Baden-Württemberg”, emphasized Dr. Hans-Josef Diehl, Head of Development and Registration at Bayer CropScience Deutschland GmbH during an expert hearing on bee losses in Karlsruhe.
Together with the State of Baden-Württemberg, Bayer CropScience is offering assistance to beekeepers affected by the recent bee losses in Southwest Germany. Once the exact damage has been ascertained, financial resources will be made available immediately via the Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs to avoid situations which could threaten beekeeping operations. This non-bureaucratic help is being offered on a voluntary basis. The amount in question is being calculated by experts on behalf of the Ministry.
In the meantime it is now certain that the regionally confined bee losses reported at the beginning of May were due to a combination of different factors. Abrasion from a number of incorrectly treated maize seed batches had caused dust to be blown into the surrounding area during sowing. The emissions were reinforced by the use of certain types of pneumatic maize sowing machines in combination with strong winds. As soon as the incident was reported, Bayer CropScience worked to clarify the matter in cooperation with the competent authorities and gave the Ministry its support throughout the investigations.
Joint quality improvement measures
As a producer of seed treatment products, Bayer CropScience is devoting its efforts to establishing a test procedure for the use of seed companies with a view to safeguarding seed dressing quality and ensuring that the imposed criteria are observed. “All parties engaged in clarifying the matter agree that a more comprehensive quality assurance system will be necessary for preventing incidents of this kind in future”, said Diehl. Together with seed companies and machine manufacturers, he continued, Bayer CropScience had started to work out technical solutions and secure further improvements in quality management for seed treatments. “We are convinced that there are good solutions based on suitable technical measures.”
The sowing machine technology in use up to now is also being carefully scrutinized. Diehl is confident that it will be possible to effect the necessary conversions on the machines in time for the next maize sowing season. With a view to the re-registration of the product for use in maize, Diehl emphasized: “The joint endeavours of authorities, pesticide producers and the seed and agricultural machinery industries are being directed now at making this innovative seed treatment technology for safeguarding harvest yields available again as quickly as possible for the farmers.”
Western corn rootworm – a quarantine pest requiring urgent control
The use of treated seed in the affected region to control the western corn rootworm over an area of about 4,000 hectares in the Upper Rhine Valley had been declared obligatory to prevent it spreading further. According to European Union estimates, this insect, which has been classified as a quarantine pest, is expected to cause damage of up to half a billion euros. At the time when the reports of bee losses were coming in, maize sowing had been largely completed. The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) reacted on 15 May 2008 by suspending the registration for eight insecticidal seed treatment products used in oilseed rape and maize – including the active ingredient clothianidin. In the weeks following the announcement, Bayer CropScience took samples of its own throughout the region and made them available to the authorities.
“All studies available to us confirm that our product is safe to bees if the recommended dressing quality is maintained. This is also shown by the product safety assessments which we have submitted to the registration authorities”, stated Dr. Richard Schmuck, an ecologist at Bayer CropScience. When used correctly, he said, this crop protection product is safe for operators, consumers and the environment and fulfills the international criteria with regard to ecological systems.
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and
extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news are available at: www.newsroom.bayercropscience.com.
Contact:
Dr. Hermann-Josef Baaken, Tel: (02173) 38-5598 / Mobile: 0175 301 5598
Email: hermann-josef.baaken@bayercropscience.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Together with the State of Baden-Württemberg, Bayer CropScience is offering assistance to beekeepers affected by the recent bee losses in Southwest Germany. Once the exact damage has been ascertained, financial resources will be made available immediately via the Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs to avoid situations which could threaten beekeeping operations. This non-bureaucratic help is being offered on a voluntary basis. The amount in question is being calculated by experts on behalf of the Ministry.
In the meantime it is now certain that the regionally confined bee losses reported at the beginning of May were due to a combination of different factors. Abrasion from a number of incorrectly treated maize seed batches had caused dust to be blown into the surrounding area during sowing. The emissions were reinforced by the use of certain types of pneumatic maize sowing machines in combination with strong winds. As soon as the incident was reported, Bayer CropScience worked to clarify the matter in cooperation with the competent authorities and gave the Ministry its support throughout the investigations.
Joint quality improvement measures
As a producer of seed treatment products, Bayer CropScience is devoting its efforts to establishing a test procedure for the use of seed companies with a view to safeguarding seed dressing quality and ensuring that the imposed criteria are observed. “All parties engaged in clarifying the matter agree that a more comprehensive quality assurance system will be necessary for preventing incidents of this kind in future”, said Diehl. Together with seed companies and machine manufacturers, he continued, Bayer CropScience had started to work out technical solutions and secure further improvements in quality management for seed treatments. “We are convinced that there are good solutions based on suitable technical measures.”
The sowing machine technology in use up to now is also being carefully scrutinized. Diehl is confident that it will be possible to effect the necessary conversions on the machines in time for the next maize sowing season. With a view to the re-registration of the product for use in maize, Diehl emphasized: “The joint endeavours of authorities, pesticide producers and the seed and agricultural machinery industries are being directed now at making this innovative seed treatment technology for safeguarding harvest yields available again as quickly as possible for the farmers.”
Western corn rootworm – a quarantine pest requiring urgent control
The use of treated seed in the affected region to control the western corn rootworm over an area of about 4,000 hectares in the Upper Rhine Valley had been declared obligatory to prevent it spreading further. According to European Union estimates, this insect, which has been classified as a quarantine pest, is expected to cause damage of up to half a billion euros. At the time when the reports of bee losses were coming in, maize sowing had been largely completed. The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) reacted on 15 May 2008 by suspending the registration for eight insecticidal seed treatment products used in oilseed rape and maize – including the active ingredient clothianidin. In the weeks following the announcement, Bayer CropScience took samples of its own throughout the region and made them available to the authorities.
“All studies available to us confirm that our product is safe to bees if the recommended dressing quality is maintained. This is also shown by the product safety assessments which we have submitted to the registration authorities”, stated Dr. Richard Schmuck, an ecologist at Bayer CropScience. When used correctly, he said, this crop protection product is safe for operators, consumers and the environment and fulfills the international criteria with regard to ecological systems.
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and
extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news are available at: www.newsroom.bayercropscience.com.
Contact:
Dr. Hermann-Josef Baaken, Tel: (02173) 38-5598 / Mobile: 0175 301 5598
Email: hermann-josef.baaken@bayercropscience.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Social Media 
Social Media
[ last update: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 ]
