Evaluation of the emergency authorisations granted by Member State Belgium for plant protection products containing clothianidin, imidacloprid or thiamethoxam

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was requested by the European Commission to provide technical assistance in accordance with Article 53(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 to examine the emergency authorisations granted in 2019 and 2020 by the competent national authority in Belgium for plant protection products containing the neonicotinoid active substances (a.s.) clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam for uses on sugar beet which were restricted when all outdoor uses were prohibited in May 2018. EFSA was asked to assess whether the granting of these emergency authorisations and their wide scope were necessary because of danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means. In this context, EFSA collected and evaluated the information in relation to the emergency authorisations for clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in Belgium in line with the EFSA insecticide protocol developed in the framework of a mandate concerning the application of Article 4(7) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. This technical report summarises the evaluation of eight crop/pest combinations considered in Belgium in 2019 and 2020. An evaluation in line with this protocol is not relevant for emergency authorisations granted for plant protection products for export to countries where the sowing of the seeds is allowed. The evaluation demonstrated that for all eight crop/pest combinations (sugar beet/aphids, millipedes, centipedes, flea beetle, wireworms, pygmy mangold beetle, leatherjackets and beet fly) no sufficient alternative a.s. to clothianidin and thiamethoxam are currently authorised in Belgium in order to provide an alternative mode of action (MoA). The evaluation included an assessment of non‐insecticide alternatives for the presented uses. For the sugar beet, fodder beet/wireworms and sugar beet, fodder beet/leatherjackets combinations one non‐insecticide method (crop rotation) is considered as highly effective and feasible and is used on a large scale.

This publication is linked to the following EFSA Supporting Publications articles: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6958/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6959/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6960/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6962/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6963/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6964/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6965/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6966/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6967/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6968/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2021.EN-6969/full