Dear Dr Dermine,
Thank you for your above-mentioned letter to Commissioner Kyriakides, who asked me to respond on her behalf. In your email you request in particular to urgently mandate the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to provide an opinion on a reduction of MRLs for all neonicotinoids and neonicotinoid-like insecticides that have the same mode of action and comparable water-solubility properties (including sulfoxaflor and flupyradifurone) and to launch a procedure under Article 21 Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, in order to review the scientific literature and assess if, based on this information, neonicotinoids and neonicotinoid-like substances meet the criteria for approval, in light of the obligation to implement the precautionary principle.
