In 2012, arguing that after more than 9 years the EPA continues to maintain the registration status for clothianidin despite the fact that the registrant has failed to supply satisfactory studies confirming its safety, an alliance of beekeepers and environmental groups filed a petition on March 21 asking the EPA to block the use of clothianidin in agricultural fields until they have conducted a review of the product. The petitioners state that they are aware that the EPA has moved up its registration review of clothianidin and other neonicotinoids in response to concerns about their impacts on pollinators, however they note that this process is projected by the EPA to take six to eight years and is thus grossly insufficient to address the urgency of the threat to pollinators.Emergency Citizen Petition to the United States Environmental Protection Agency Jeff Anderson, Manley and Linda Bigalk and 25 other commercial beekeepers and honeyproducers, and four environmental and consumer organizations,represented by:Center for Food Safety panna.org, accessed 11 June 2019
