EU divided on further use of glyphosate

EU COUNTRIES hit deadlock yesterday on the future of weedkiller glyphosate that some experts say causes cancer, with the European Commission urging them to reconsider its proposal to allow its use to continue for five years.

Europe has been wrestling for two years over what to do with the chemical, a key ingredient in Monsanto’s top-selling weed-killer Roundup.

The chemical has been used by farmers for more than 40 years, but its use was cast in doubt when the World Health Organisation’s cancer agency concluded in 2015 that it probably causes cancer.

The European Chemical Agency said in March this year, however, there was no evidence linking it to cancer in humans. Yesterday the EU’s 28 countries failed to approve or reject the commission’s proposal for a five-year extension to the licence allowing glyphosate to be used.

Fourteen countries voted in favour, nine against and five abstained, not enough to secure a “qualified majority” under EU voting rules, the commission said, adding that it would resubmit its proposal by the end of November, before the current authorisation expires on December 15.

In theory, the commission could then push through the extension, but it would prefer that the governments make the call on an issue that has become politically charged.

The European Parliament has called for glyphosate to be phased out over the next five years, while France has said it favoured the licence being extended for just three years.

Environmental group Greenpeace said the EU should ban it immediately. EU states failed twice in October even to vote on a proposal for a 10-year licence extension.

French pollster Ipsos said in a study in September that a ban on glyphosate could cost the French grains sector, the EU’s largest, €1.1 billion (R18.08bn) and wine producers €900 million due mainly to lower yields and a fall in exports.

Total EU sales of glyphosate-based products are around €1bn per year. –