asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jonathan Shaw, on 11 June (Official Report, Commons, 273W) on the risks posed by neo-nicotinamide pesticides to the beekeeping industry, whether the field studies providing data supporting the conclusion that the level of risk is acceptable were conclusive; and, if not, whether they will fund further work on the issue, particularly on the effect of the products on bee health when present in compost and other products which are widely available in garden centres. [HL4637]

Data submitted from the field studies referred to provided sufficient information to enable the Advisory Committee on Pesticides to recommend to Ministers that the risk from these products was acceptable. The incident in southern Germany in which bees were affected by the use of these products arose from a specific set of circumstances. I refer my noble friend to the Written Answer on 3 July (Official Report, Commons, cols. 1075-1076W). There is no evidence of any problems from those neo-nicotinoid products approved for home garden use or from the use of such products approved for horticultural use in garden centres. Defra will, of course, act immediately on any concrete evidence from incidents which occur in the UK.