An Urban's Rural View

Collapsing honeybee populations led the European Union in late April to ban the category of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. A few days later the U.S. decided not to, blaming the bees' problems on multiple causes and calling for more study. Could this divergence become a new source of trans-Atlantic trade friction?

Neonicotinoids are widely used. Much of the corn and soybeans planted in the U.S. are treated with them. One neonicotinoid, Imidacloprid, is said to be the most used pesticide.

With the two continents going different ways on neonicitinoids, it will be interesting to see whether European or American bee colonies do better in the years ahead. It will also be interesting to see if European farmers suffer the expected 10% to 15% yield loss. Theoretically, this would boost Europe's need for soybeans from the U.S. and Brazil. We could sell Europe a lot more protein.

Then again, maybe not. What if the EU goes a step further and ban imports of crops that show neonicotinoid residue? I've heard that U.S. officials are warning the EU they'll fight that. But will the EU heed the warning?

There are scientific studies on both sides of the issue. The member states of the EU couldn't muster a sufficient number of votes for or against a ban. That threw the decision to the European Commission bureaucrats in Brussels, who tentatively decided on a two-year moratorium.

In Washington, USDA and EPA said it wasn't clear whether neonicotinoids were a major cause of colony collapse. An EPA official was quoted as saying there are "non-trivial costs to society in getting this wrong." Not just economic costs, but environmental harm from alternative pesticides that might be kinder to bees but less kind to mammals.

Costs, however, are not part of the equation when EU officials study questions like these. Nor does the absence of a scientific consensus stop bans. Under Europe's precautionary principle supporters of caution needn't prove harm; those pushing to act must prove no harm.

When one side practices precaution and the other does cost-benefit analysis, clashes are inevitable. The lengthy trade dispute over genetically engineered crops is just one of many examples.

World Trade Organization rules frown on the precautionary principle, fearing it can be used as a mask for protectionism. If the EU bans neonicotinoid-treated crop imports, we could someday see another trade battle that tests those WTO rules. What happens in the meantime to bee colonies in Europe and the U.S. could play a role in the battle.