UK rejects Friends of the Earth's bid to stop 'bee-harming' pesticide use
Friends of the Earth (FoE) were refused permission to apply for judicial review of a decision allowing farmers to drill oilseed rape seeds coated with two neonicotinoid pesticides this autumn.
Mrs Justice Patterson ruled FoE’s case was “unarguable on all grounds”.
She accepted arguments put forward by the Department of the Environment to suspend EU pesticide rules in a bid to protect essential UK crops.
An EU-wide two-year ban was put in place after some studies found the pesticides caused significant harm to bees, but UK Environment Secretary Liz Truss used emergency powers to partially lift it.
FoE said more than half a million people have signed petitions against the move.
The UK Government authorised a 120-day easing of the ban in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire after the National Farmers Union said cabbage fly stem beetle attacks were likely to threaten crops.
The ruling is viewed as a victory for the UK Government and the NFU, which joined forces to argue the authorisation was justified.
