Syngenta challenges EU ruling

Thiamethoxam, which belongs to a group of widely-used insecticides known as neonicotinoids, is the active ingredient in Syngenta’s Cruiser seed treatments.

The European Union said in April it would ban three of the world’s most widely-used pesticides for two years because of fears they are linked to a plunge in the population of bees critical to the production of crops.

Syngenta said the commission took the decision on the basis of a flawed process, an inaccurate and incomplete assessment by the European Food Safety Authority and without the full support of EU member states. Syngenta has a manufacturing base in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.