EU member states have approved a total ban on the outdoor use of three common pesticides that have been found to be harmful to bees.
The ban, which was approved on 27 April and will come into force before the end of 2018, will extend restrictions introduced in 2013 that limited the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides.
In February the European Food Safety Authority concluded that any outdoor use of the chemicals presented a risk to wild bees, due to the contamination of soil and water and subsequent uptake by crops and wild plants.
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