NFUS is ‘disappointed’ at EU failure over herbicide decision

THE EU committee of member state representatives’ vote on the five-year re-licensing of herbicide glyphosate has failed to reach a qualified majority and will be postponed until a further date.

NFU Scotland said it was disappointed following a further delay to the re-authorisation of a product which has been deemed safe by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) among others. The decision will now be made by an appeals committee at the end of the month.

The NFUS said that the ‘science is clear that glyphosate is a safe and environmentally friendly product and NFU Scotland believes that any decision made on its re-authorisation should be based on science rather than politics’.

NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick wrote to the president of the Europeam Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and two commissioners, Vytenis Andriukaitis and Phil Hogan. This was as well as sending two delegates to conduct meetings with UK and Scottish Government representatives in Brussels, and Copa Cogeca.

Following the outcome, NFUS will continue to make the case for glyphosate’s re-authorisation and encourage any of its members who feel strongly to contact the European Commission and constructively let it know their point of view.

Mr McCornick said: ‘Glyphosate is vital to Scottish farmers who use it to control weeds, manage harvests and reduce grain drying costs. This failure to obtain a majority vote is just creating further uncertainty for our members, many of whom need to start planning for next year.

‘Off the back of such a difficult harvest for so many Scottish farmers, the thought of not having such a useful product to help is a very daunting thought. I would ask all members and stakeholders affected to email or tweet Messrs Junker, Andriukaitis and Hogan to explain just how important glyphosate is to their business, and remember to use the #Glyphosateisvital tag.’