Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the office of the Polish prosecutor general alleging the country’s agriculture minister “violated” procedures by allowing the use of restricted insecticides.
More specifically, the environmental activist group accused the minister, Jan Ardanowski, of wrongly allowing the use of neonicotinoid pesticides which is blocked by the European Union over concerns that they imperil bee populations.
“He made a bad decision in giving in July his temporary authorisation (to use neonicotinoids) which, in fact might be in the interest of rapeseed growers but is to the detriment of the 60,000 Polish beekeepers,” said Greenpeace’s Katarzyna Jagiello, describing the minister’s actions as “absolutely scandalous”.
As reported by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), Greenpeace’s complaint has been filed jointly with the Frank Bold legal group, which specialises in environmental, human rights and anti-corruption cases.
“He delivered his authorisations very quickly, without consulting beekeepers, without taking account of the results of scientific research nor a negative opinion from the environment ministry,” said Bartosz Kwiatkowski of Frank Bold.
Last week, beekeepers sent a letter to the minister protesting his decisions as “harmful both for beekeepers and for the environment”.
