EU in last-chance saloon over relicensing herbicide

A growing call for sound scientific evidence to win out over the toxic combination of politics and rhetoric has been made by a number of farming organisations as the EU prepares to decide the fate of the widely used herbicide, glyphosate.

In Brussels ahead of the crucial vote on the product’s future which takes place later today, NFU Scotland combinable crop committee chair Ian Sands said that any failure to grant reauthorisation would undermine the entire credibility of the EU’S decision-making process.

“Glyphosate’s existing authorisation expires on 15 December,” said Sands. “The product has received a clean bill of health from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) amongst others.”

However, Sands said that this clean bill of health had been sidelined by those tasked with reviewing the product at previous meetings – and while there was no reason that the product should not be re-licensed for the full 15 years, the European Commission had now watered its proposal down, asking only for a five-year re-approval to be granted.

As the clock ticks down, if no qualified majority in favour of relicensing the product is made today by the standing committee on plants, animals, food and feed (SCOPAFF), then the decision is likely to be passed to the appeals committee of member states’ political representatives – pushing the decision closer to 15 December:

“The importance of a safe and trusted product like glyphosate to the Scottish farming industry fully justifies NFUS putting every resource into securing its availability in the future,” said Sands.

“Indeed, the whole credibility of the decisionmaking process in Brussels would be in jeopardy if the expert committee were to choose political rhetoric over hard, scientific evidence and opt not to re-authorise glyphosate for the full 15 years.”

Figures produced by Oxford Economics highlighted the likely cost of a ban on glyphosate to the British and European economy and the agricultural sector.

Their findings showed that In the UK, a ban could cost British farmers almost £1 billion a year, reduce tax revenues generated by agriculture and its supply chain by £193 million and see wheat production in the UK fall by 20 per cent.

And while it was estimated that other EU countries would face a similar bill, the organisation warned that the ban could also push up food prices to the consumer.