Temporary extension of EU glyphosate approval hits roadblock

Several member states blocked the temporary extension of the EU approval of the controversial pesticide glyphosate for one more year on Friday (14 October) after it failed to reach the necessary majority.

The EU’s current authorisation for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide, as an active substance in plant protection is set to expire in mid-December 2022.

However, earlier this year the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) stated that it required more time for its reassessment of the pesticide, pushing it back to July 2023, well after the approval expiry date.

As such, the European Commission proposed an interim renewal of one year, as per the legal framework, and put this before member states in its Standing Committee of the EU Commission on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) on Friday.

However, a Commission spokesperson confirmed to EURACTIV that the vote did not pass as it did not reach the necessary qualified majority. 

According to sources inside the meeting, while the majority of member states backed the approval, Luxembourg, Malta, and Croatia opposed the extension of approval, while France, Germany, and Slovenia chose to abstain from the vote. Combined, this ultimately proved enough to block the proceedings. 

The Commission spokesperson told EURACTIV that they “regret” that this decision did not pass.

The EU executive will now submit the file to an appeals process and, in case there would be no majority in the appeal committee as well, the matter will pass to the College of Commissioners which could approve the rules on its own.

However, the spokesperson was unable to give information on the timeline this would require.

Asked whether this would be approved before the December deadline, the spokesperson said that the Commission “would do all they could” to hurry the procedure along.

EU agencies push back glyphosate assessment to mid-2023

Due to an unprecedented flood of stakeholder input, relevant EU agencies announced their risk assessment on glyphosate will only come in mid-2023, even though the herbicide’s current approval will expire by the end of this year.

Stakeholders split over science

Whether glyphosate can be classed as a carcinogen – that is, whether it is a driver for cancer in humans – is one of the main issues around the herbicide that are contested not only between stakeholders but also in the scientific community and between different public agencies.

For its part, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has previously evaluated the substance as “probably carcinogenic”, while the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has concluded it is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk” to humans when consumed through their diet.

While the EU agencies had previously concluded, for example, that there was “no evidence” to link glyphosate use to heightened cancer risk in humans, campaigners have criticised the agencies’ assessment process for being based too strongly on industry-commissioned studies and ignoring long-term health and environmental risks.

Green Germany abstains

Following the vote, Germany – whose federal government has agreed to end the use of glyphosate, with a phase-out date set for 1 January 2024 – released a statement explaining its decision to abstain from the vote.

According to the statement, it did not want to stand in the way of the European Commission’s formal-administrative extension.

Meanwhile, the country – led by Green agriculture minister Cem Özdemir – remains critical of glyphosate’s impact on biodiversity.

“The federal government is sticking to the declared European goal of making the agricultural sector more sustainable, ecological and thus future-proof,” the statement reads, adding this is especially needed in light of the Ukraine war.

Stressing that food security can only be achieved with the preservation of biodiversity, an intact environment and real climate protection, the statement concludes that the federal government is therefore pursuing an agricultural policy that “recognises and takes into account climate protection and biodiversity as fundamental prerequisites for sustainable agriculture”.

Glyphosate does not cause cancer, says EU committee

It is “not justified” to conclude that the herbicide glyphosate causes cancer, an expert committee inside the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has said, invoking widespread criticism from health and environmental campaigners.

[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Nathalie Weatherald]

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