Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Italian authorities suspended the use of pesticides of agrochemical companies Syngenta AG, Bayer AG and BASF SE following deaths of bee populations and a similar measure in Germany.

The suspension will make it possible to collect valuable information on links between the large-scale deaths of bees and pesticides, the Italian health ministry said this week in a statement on its Web site.

The suspension affects seed-treatment pesticides using as their active chemical ingredients thiamethoxan, produced by Basel, Switzerland-based Syngenta, clothianidin and imidacloprid of Germany's Bayer and fipronil, made by BASF, the world's biggest chemical maker.

German authorities suspended in May the registration for eight insecticidal seed-treatment products of Bayer and Syngenta, the world's biggest agrochemicals maker, to clarify the deaths in bee populations. They initially blocked use of the products for canola and corn seeds, later lifting the suspension for canola.

``Italy's beekeeper associations have long asked for a ban of the agro poisons,'' the Coalition against Bayer Dangers, a German activist group based in Duesseldorf, said in an e-mailed statement. Slovenia also acted previously to suspend clothianidin and imidacloprid, the group said.

Companies' Responses

``The decision was not based on science but on political motives,'' said Syngenta spokesman Medard Schoenmaeckers, adding that scientific data didn't show any link between the bee losses in Italy and seed-treatment products. Cruiser is the trade brand name for thiamethoxan.

Bayer is aware of the suspension, though it hasn't received an official notification with the reasons yet, Utz Klages, spokesman of the Leverkusen, Germany-based company, said. Used correctly its products are safe, he added.

Bayer sells clothianidin under the Poncho brand name, while imidacloprid can also be sold by generic producers. BASF sells it as Gaucho. Sales of Poncho almost doubled last year to 237 million euros ($335 million).

BASF spokeswoman Elise Kissling said that the company hadn't received any Italian data, adding that she wasn't aware of any incident in Italy caused by fipronil, which is registered in more than 70 countries for the control of insect pests in more than 100 crops. One trade brand is Regent TS.

The Italian health ministry wasn't immediately available to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Antonio Ligi in Zurich at aligi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 19, 2008 07:42 EDT