Glyphosphate ban would have global implications

Many of the EU’S largest trading partners are becoming increasingly concerned that the growing possibility of an Euwide ban on the use of glyphosate could be used to curb imports from countries where the world’s most widely used weedkiller was still approved.

The fears were raised again after Europe’s standing committee on plant animal food and feed failed to give conclusive backing to an extension of glyphosate’s licence last week – and in light of the subsequent a change of tack by the European Commission which has now revised its recommendations, favouring that a new licence is granted for five years rather than for the ten which had originally been sought.

Only seven weeks now remain for a vote endorsing a renewal of the licence to be taken before the current licence lapses on 15 December, an outcome which would effectively ban the product in the EU – and with the next sitting of the committee likely to take place on 9 November, the issue is likely to go down to the wire. The Commission said that its change of heart in recommending a five-year extension rather than ten years as had originally been proposed was due to the speed with which new information was being provided on the product.

However, French officials have already been cited as stating their government would not give its backing to any proposals which extended the licence beyond a four-year period. While this raised the possibility of a compromise deal, many organisations and countries supporting re-authorisation have claimed that this would be a political cave-in, adding that the science supported a full 15-year re-approval for the product.

From the perspective of countries outside the EU – which could soon include the UK – any failure to regain a licence would make it politically difficult for the EU to continue to import goods from crops which had been treated with glyphosate grown in countries where the product was still approved.

With Canadian wheat and Brazilian soya currently lying in the possible firing line for import restrictions, along with other products from Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and Argentina, representatives from these countries believe that the politics of banning its use in Europe would inevitably lead to controls on importation of their products.

Under EU regulations, it would be a simple measure to introduce stricter controls on glyphosate residue levels in imported goods following any de-listing of the product in Europe.

The fears of such restrictions, which were raised earlier this year with the World Trade Organisation, were reportedly raised again this week in a letter to the EU’S farm commissioner, Phil Hogan.

The imposition of such restrictions would also highlight just how closely UK growers would have to align their production with the regulatory system in operation on continental Europe after Brexit if trade was to continue, deflating the hopes of those seeking a quick Brexit for UK agriculture in order to relax regulatory controls from Brussels.