Lobbying


The HTA working for its members In the wake of ash dieback


chalara won’t be published until the end of March. This is too late for growers who need answers now to help their businesses recover.’ Following on from this, Briercliffe


added, ‘We convened a meeting of amenity and forestry growers with the Defra Plant Health Policy team in January and, subsequently, submitted a list of short- and long-term recommendations to provide for industry resilience and better UK biosecurity in the future. We understand that our proposal for a


The HTA has repeatedly pointed out that Fera was warned of the dangers of chalara in 2009, but that no plant health controls were implemented until October 2012 even though new science emerged in 2010 to vindicate the HTA’s warnings. Disappointingly, despite pushing hard, the Government has refused to step away from its policy of not paying compensation for plant health issues. In December, the HTA received a letter from Parliamentary Under


Secretary for the Environment Lord de Mauley stating that Government would not be applying to the EU fund available to support plant health crises in member states. HTA Director of business development Tim Briercliffe commented, ‘We’re disappointed that the Government has not applied to the EU fund, which was set up for just this type of situation, nor has committed to providing growers with direct compensation. Time is of the essence. The Government Action Plan on


“resilience scheme” to help cleanse nurseries of ash trees and future chalara infection will not be accepted by Defra Ministers. More positively, the potential for replant grants for the forestry sector is being considered favourably, and Forest Research are also procuring 250,000 ash trees for the purpose of screening research on chalara spread. We will continue to represent growers to the best of our ability over the coming weeks as the final control plan emerges.’ _www.the-hta.org.uk/ashdieback


Bees and neonicotinoids


There has been considerable media coverage on the European Commission (EC) proposal to ban the use of products containing imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin (no retail products contain clothianidin). While members will make their own decisions as to how they respond to calls for the removal of these products from their shelves, the HTA is arguing that the EC should not ban the use of these products on ornamentals. We have been re-assured by Defra that the UK Government also does not


support a ban and will be arguing against this in Europe. Defra continues to carry out its own research into the impacts of neonicotinoids on bees and is awaiting the results of a field study on bumble bees. This research will be reviewed by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides and its advice will be considered by Government. To date, the stringent UK pesticide registration process has not found any scientific proof of the link to bee health. HTA Director of business development


Tim Briercliffe says, ‘The HTA has produced a factsheet on the issue to allow members to answer any questions that customers may have. Some garden retailers have withdrawn neonicotinoid products from their shelves, but we are not recommending this course of action as we do not currently believe the evidence warrants this.’


_For more information and advice to help with customer enquiries HTA members can visit www.the-hta.org.uk/neonicotinoids


Banning sales of invasive water plants


The sale of five invasive non-native aquatic plant species will be banned in order to protect wildlife. Water fern, parrot’s feather, floating pennywort, Australian swamp stone-crop (New Zealand pygmy weed) and water primrose are swamping out native species and damaging some of our most sensitive habitats. The plants form dense vegetative mats that deplete oxygen and lower light levels causing a decline in fish numbers and other aquatic species. They can also reduce access to waterways for boating and angling and increase flood risk which, taken together, can cost millions of pounds per year.


10 HTAnews I March 2013 I www.the-hta.org.uk


_For more information about the Be Plant Wise campaign please visit www.nonnativespecies.org/beplantwise


The ban means that all retailers will now have to stop selling these plants or face a fine of up to £5000 and possibly up to six months in prison. Retailers have a year to adjust to the ban. HTA Director of business development Tim Briercliffe comments, ‘We encourage the industry to promote responsible handling and disposal of plants as outlined in the Defra Be Plant Wise campaign.’


ISTOCKPHOTO.COM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24