Brussels to back 10-year extension for EU glyphosate use
The European Commission will recommend re-approving the use of glyphosate in the EU for 10 years, senior EU officials said on Wednesday.
Glyphosate, a chemical used in herbicides such as weed killers, has been a source of controversy since the World Health Organization’s cancer agency concluded in 2015 that it was probably carcinogenic to humans.
But EU officials confirmed on Wednesday that, after the EU’s food safety agency EFSA had found no critical areas of concern in a July assessment, it would recommend an extension of the substance’s authorisation in the bloc for 10 years.
Officials recognised, however, that the EFSA analysis included data gaps and had failed to reach conclusions on certain aspects, including for consumer diets.
EU authorisation for glyphosate expired in December 2022, but was extended temporarily pending assessments by EFSA and ECA, the EU’s chemical agency.
The Commission is set to present its proposal to the 27 member states. If the recommendation is approved, countries can choose whether to place products containing glyphosate on the market, based on agricultural and environmental risks.
An EU official said 17 member states had raised technical questions around the decision.
Member states including France and Luxembourg have in the past placed restrictions on the use of products containing glyphosate. NGOs had also called for the European Commission to prohibit the chemical, citing risk to human health. biodiversity and agriculture.
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