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Bayer CropScience submits extensive data on use of clothianidin for treatment of maize seed

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Monheim, Germany
February 11, 2009

Company convinced that clothianidin can be safely used

In a communication dated February 9, 2009 the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) informed that the authorizations of several neonicotinoid active ingredients for maize seed treatment remain suspended. Authorization for clothianidin and a number of other insecticides had been suspended in connection with bee losses in the Upper Rhine valley in spring 2008 until such time as the causes had been completely accounted for. Whilst the plant protection product Mesurol® can be used again in maize, subject to restrictions the Federal Agency stated that “the data necessary for a reliable assessment of the effects are not yet sufficient” for this group of active ingredients.

Bayer CropScience has submitted comprehensive safety assessment documents for clothianidin as a seed treatment product in maize. In the opinion of Bayer CropScience, the documents provided by the company clearly show that there are no risks to either users or the environment when suitable adhesives are used for seed dressing, converted sowing machines are used, and seed treated with clothianidin is correctly sown.
The company is of the opinion that these data could be speedily evaluated to ensure that clothianidin, a product which is of urgent necessity for the treatment of maize seeds, can be made available again for agricultural use.

In cooperation with the sowing machine manufacturers and in close consultation with the competent registration authorities and official testing centres, Bayer CropScience has in recent months developed technical conversion concepts which ensure a reduction of dust drift to the minimum. By expelling the exhaust air close to the ground, they prevent abrasion dusts entering the surrounding air during sowing and eventually coming into contact with other plants. The effectiveness of these conversions has been confirmed by extensive testing procedures at the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI). A list of authorized maize sowing machines has been placed by the JKI on its website www.jki.bund.de, and is regularly updated.

According to the facts and expert assessments at present available to Bayer CropScience, guttation from treated plants has no effect on the health of bee colonies under conditions of normal agricultural practice. The German bee monitoring programme from 2004 to 2008 also found no causal connection between neonicotinoid pesticides and bee health irrespective of the source of exposure. This has been further confirmed by the results of investigations in France.

In view of these considerations, Bayer CropScience sees no good reason for the suspension of insecticidal products for maize seed treatment and will request further meetings on the subject with the competent authorities.

Cause of bee losses in Baden-Württemberg identified

In the concluding report recently published by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs, it is stated that the bee deaths in the Upper Rhine valley in 2008 were due to inadequately treated seed and to a sowing technology which expels the outgoing air from the machines upwards. “However, the results give no reason to assume general inadequacies on the part of particular seed producers or seed dressing facilities,” said Minister Peter Hauk when presenting the report. He maintained that the general safety of seed treatment products was not put in question.

Bayer CropScience attaches the highest priority to the safe use and environmental friendliness of its products. For this reason the company does not confine its efforts to the development of technical solutions but also runs training programmes concerned with the safe and environmentally compatible use of its seed treatment products. These supplement the company’s safety and quality concept.

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

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 6.4 billion (2008), 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 more than 18,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries.

 

 

 

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