Pesticide

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Beekeeper’s Association has urged the government to reject any EU proposal to lower protection standards for honey bees or other pollinators. The beekeepers fear this could happen as part of the EU’s revision of guidelines on risk assessment of pesticides.

A racked that illegally procured pesticides from Turkey and Bulgaria and then forwarded them to Greek farmers in Greece has been dismantled by police in northern Greece.

According to reports on Monday, four people have been arrested.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has identified and banned 24,478 kg of imported vegetables from third countries over excessive pesticide residues, said the Agency's press office, quoted by FOCUS and Darik.

A recent sampling of pesticide residues identified in imported fruit and vegetables has shown that 1.66pct of the samples carried excessive content, below the average value of non-compliance in the European Union, which stands at 4.1pct, according to Romania's National Authority for Veterinary and Food Safety (ANSVSA).

The measures proposed so far do not guarantee the preservation of the population, MEPs say. A resolution is now expected to be voted on to take additional measures to protect pollinators.

The Service Control Commission will listen to the specialists, NOVA TV reports.

The Gebrev case enters parliament. In a closed session, MPs from the Service Control Commission will hear the heads of the special and prosecution on the case with the poisoning of businessman Emilian Gebrev.

All versions of Gebrev poisoning are working.

Turkey's Agriculture and Forestry Ministry banned the use of three dangerous chemicals utilized in the agriculture sector with a decree coded "urgent" on Dec. 22 after daily Hürriyet reported that the pesticides were killing hundreds of thousands of bees. 

German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer will discard the name Monsanto when it takes over the controversial U.S. seeds and pesticides producer this week, the group said on June 4.

The Bulgarian Embassy is among the 13 which have received letters with white powder. According to local sources, the substance is an insect venom, including the pesticide fipronil used in agriculture and veterinary medicine.

Such letters were sent to the Embassies of US, Canada, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, France, Romania, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, etc.

Traces of toxic pesticides for bees have been found in 75 % of the honey produced around the world, according to research findings cited by Associated Press and the France press.