European Union bans neonicotinoids for outdoor use

European Union member state representatives have voted to ban neonicotinoids for outdoor use.

The vote follows a scientific review published in February by the EU’s European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concluded that the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam are harmful to bees.

“All outdoor use of the three substances will be banned and the neonicotinoids in question will only be allowed in permanent greenhouses where no contact with bees is expected,” the European Union said in a statement.

The ban will go into effect by the end of 2018. It builds further upon use restrictions, implemented in 2013, on treating the seeds, soil and foliage of numerous outdoor-grown produce crops, as well as any “ornamentals flowering in [the] year of treatment,” according to the EU.

Product manufacturers and some farming groups oppose the decision, according to the BBC.