Three neonicotinoid pesticides used in growing plants and cereals have been banned because they are considered harmful to bees.
Prensa.com reports that "the products in question are clothianidin and imidacloprid, produced by Bayer, and thiamethoxam, manufactured by the Swiss firm Syngenta, who has appealed against the ban before the European Court."
The Legislature will not accept Presidential comments on Act 53 which prohibits the use of agrochemicals, and will only increase the timeframe for their withdrawal.
The Committee on the Environment and Climate Change in Congress has set a deadline of one year for a ban on the sale of the pesticide "Paraquat" and two years for other products.
From a press release issued by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador:
Congress supports the sale of 11 out of 53 of the banned pesticides but experts believe that these are the ones that cause the most damage.
MPs "... still have not reached an agreement regarding the comments made by the President, Mauricio Funes, on a reform to the Law on Control of Pesticides, Fertilizers and Products for Agricultural Use", noted an article in Laprensagrafica.com .
President Funes sent the Law on Pesticide Control back to Congress, arguing the need to adapt it to reality.
From a press release from the Presidency of El Salvador:
The President, Mauricio Funes, using his constitutional powers, sent today to the Legislature observations on Legislative Decree No. 473, regarding the amendments to the Law on the Control of Pesticides, Fertilizers and Products for Agricultural Use.
Businessmen from the Salvadoran agricultural sector remarked that the measure could cause a 60% drop in production.
The warning came from the international organization CropLife, which is a member of the Agricultural Suppliers Association (APA) of El Salvador. "The FAO has said that without the use of pesticides, you run the risk of losing between 40% and 60% of the harvest, and this not only true in El Salvador, but around the world," said Martin Zuniga, CropLife regional director for Central America and the Caribbean.
Salvadoran coffee growers have asked for a review of the rule stating that there arent any alternative measures which provide the same levels of efficiency and coverage.
According to the president of the Association of Coffee Producers (ABECAFE), Carlos Borgonovo, the congressional initiative threatens the quality and quantity of the grain harvest. "At the moment there is no substitute, we would have to order in from an international laboratory," said Borgonovo referring to the chemical endosulfan. This product is used for controlling the coffee berry borer pest.
Despite opinions to the contrary, the new law includes Paraquat, Glyphosate and Endosulfan in the list of chemicals banned from use in agricultural production.
From a press release by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources:
With 45 votes in favor, members of the FMLN, Unidos por El salvador and GANA approved the amendment of a Law on the control of pesticides, fertilizers and products for agricultural use, which allows the prohibition of 53 chemicals in El Salvador.
The European Commission has decided to restrict the use of three pesticides used in the growing of plants and cereals, after having verified that they are harmful to bees.
From an article by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The European Commission (EC) decided to restrict the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides used in the growing of plants and cereals, after finding that these are harmful to bees.