NEONICOTINOIDS DEFRA has approved an emergency application for English sugar beet growers to use a neonicotinoid seed treatment against virus yellows. Neonicotinoids were banned across the European Union in 2019 – which at that time included the UK – as concerns grew over their effects on bee populations. While manufacturers cited research that the chemicals do not actually kill pollinators, other studies suggested that neonicotinoids have a negative effect on bee behaviour, such that colonies fail in the long term because their normal food gathering and breeding activities are disrupted. In the end, the EU decided to err on the side of caution and remove its authorisation for the outdoor use of three neonicotinoids – clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam.
Failure to exempt guide dog puppies from Irish Sea Brexit restrictions morally reprehensible The Guide Dog National Breeding Centre in England has had to stop sending pups to volunteers in the north as part of its specialist training programme 06 January, 2021 01:00
Because puppies can t get these vaccinations until they are 12 weeks old and can pnly travel 21 days after that, they now can t be transferred to Northern Ireland until they are at least 15 weeks old
A failure to exempt guide dog puppies from restrictions on bringing `pets across the Irish Sea has been branded morally reprehensible .
UUP agriculture spokeswoman Rosemary Barton flagged the issue after writing to Stormont agriculture minister Edwin Poots and his Westminster counterpart George Eustice to intervene to allow the placement of puppies in the north to resume.