The lower house of the French parliament, the French National Assembly, has narrowly passed a proposal for an outright ban on neonicotinoids as of September 1 2018.
Currently in draft form, the bill will go back to the French Senate for further debate and discourse, before the Assembly takes a final vote on the matter.
In a Government statement, France said the ban was ‘a responsible solution that provides the necessary time to assess alternatives’, in terms of their health and environment impacts, particularly on bees, of which effects are well-known.
Stéphane Le Foll, the French agricultural minister, said he would call on the executive power of the EU to ensure these restrictions applied to the whole of the EU.
The EU limited the use of neonicotinoid chemicals two years ago after research pointed to risks for bees, which play a crucial role pollinating crops.
Crop chemical makers say the research blaming neonicotinoid pesticides is not backed up by field evidence and a global plunge in bee numbers in recent years is a complex phenomenon due to multiple factors.
Farmer groups, meanwhile, say no viable alternatives exist and a full ban would put France at a disadvantage to other crop producing countries in the EU.
