Humboldt Forum for Food & Agr HFFA

<h4 style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);">Economic impact<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neonicotinoid&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Economic impact" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h4><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In January 2013, the Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture e. V. (HFFA), a non-profit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank" title="Think tank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">think tank</a>, published a report on the value of neonicotinoids in the EU. At their website HFFA lists as their partners/supporters:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASE" title="BASE" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">BASE FE</a>, the world's largest chemical company; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer" title="Bayer" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Bayer CropScience</a>, makers of products for crop protection and nonagricultural pest control; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.ON" title="E.ON" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">E.ON</a>, an electric utility service provider; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KWS_Saat" title="KWS Saat" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">KWS Seed</a>, a seed producer; and the food company <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestle" title="Nestle" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Nestle</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid#cite_note-35" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[35]</a><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The study was supported by COPA-COGECA, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Seed_Association" title="European Seed Association" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">European Seed Association</a> and the European Crop Protection Association, and financed by neonicotinoid manufacturers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_CropScience" title="Bayer CropScience" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Bayer CropScience</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngenta" title="Syngenta" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Syngenta</a>. The report looked at the short- and medium-term impacts of a complete ban of all neonicotinoids on agricultural and total <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added" title="Value added" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">value added</a> (VA) and employment, global prices, land use and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas" title="Greenhouse gas" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">greenhouse gas</a> (GHG) emissions. In the first year, agricultural and total VA would decline by €2.8 and €3.8 billion, respectively. The greatest losses would be in wheat, maize and rapeseed in the UK, Germany, Romania and France. 22,000 jobs would be lost, primarily in Romania and Poland, and agricultural incomes would go down by 4.7%. In the medium-term (5-year ban), losses would amount to €17 billion in VA, and 27,000 jobs. The greatest income losses would affect the UK, while most jobs losses would occur in Romania. Following a ban, the lowered production would induce more imports of agricultural commodities into the EU. Agricultural production outside the EU would expand by 3.3 million hectares, leading to additional emissions of 600 million tons of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_equivalent" title="Carbon dioxide equivalent" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">carbon dioxide equivalent</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid#cite_note-hffa-36" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[36]</a><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">When the report was released, a spokesperson for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_Association" title="Soil Association" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Soil Association</a>, which has been working to ban neonicotinoids in the UK, commented that since the report was funded by Bayer Crop Sciences and Syngenta, "it was probably unlikely to conclude that neonicotinoids should be banned". The spokesperson further stated: "On the one hand, the chemical companies say we risk the additional costs to farmers amounting to £630 million. On the other, the possible cost of losing pollinating insects is thought to be worth three times as much (£1.8 billion*) to UK farmers."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[37]</a> wuiki