On November 16, EU member states held a second vote on the renewal of glyphosate. The voting results were consistent with the previous results: no "qualified majority" support was obtained.
Previously, on October 13, 2023, the EU agency failed to give a decisive opinion on the proposal to extend the approval period for the use of glyphosate by 10 years. The reason is that whether the proposal is passed or not, it needs the support or opposition of a "qualified majority" of 15 countries representing at least 65% of the EU's population. However, the European Commission said that in the vote conducted by the Commission composed of 27 EU member states, neither support nor opposition obtained a qualified majority.
In accordance with relevant EU legal requirements, if this vote fails, the European Commission (EC) has the right to make the final decision on the renewal. The European Commission relied on the joint safety assessment results of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Regulatory Agency (ECHA), which found that no critical area of concern existed in the active ingredients. A 10-year renewal registration for glyphosate was therefore authorized.
Why 10-year renewal registration period was approved instead of 15 years:
General pesticide renewals are for 15 years, but this time glyphosate was authorized for 10-year renewal. This is not due to safety evaluation issues. This is because the current approval of glyphosate will expire on December 15, 2023. This expiration date is the result of a five-year exception that has been granted for glyphosate in 2012. A comprehensive assessment was carried out between 2017 and 2017. Since compliance with the approval standards has been verified twice, the European Commission will choose a 10-year renewal period and believes that there will be no new major changes in scientific safety assessment methods in the short term.
EU countries’ autonomy in this decision:
Each EU member state remains responsible for the national registration of formulated products containing glyphosate. According to EU regulations, there is a two-step procedure for the introduction of crop protection products onto the market:
First, the technical substance is approved at the EU level.
Second, each member state evaluates and authorizes registration of preparations in its own country. In other words, countries can still not approve the sales of pesticide products containing glyphosate in their own countries.
Whether the renewal approval decision for glyphosate includes conditions and restrictions on use:
The EU Crop Protection Products Regulation provides that the Commission may impose necessary conditions of use or restrictions when approving active substances. As part of the glyphosate renewal proposal, the committee included several new conditions, including prohibiting its use as a dehydrating agent and setting maximum limits for five impurities in glyphosate.
Whether the decision will be reviewed in light of new scientific evidence:
As part of the renewal decision, glyphosate was evaluated on a large scale, making it perhaps the most extensively studied active substance in the world. However, if new evidence emerges that approval criteria have not been met, the Committee will take immediate action to revise or withdraw approval as the science requires.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Bayer's Roundup herbicide. Glyphosate, also known as an all-purpose herbicide, kills plants. No grass, shrubs or moss will grow where glyphosate is sprayed. This agent is used primarily in agriculture to keep fields weed-free before sowing crops. Bayer has said that decades of research have proven that glyphosate is safe and has been widely used by farmers.
Over the past decade, glyphosate, used in products such as the herbicide Roundup, has been the focus of intense scientific debate over whether glyphosate causes cancer and its potentially damaging effects on the environment. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, headquartered in France and affiliated with the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as a "possible human carcinogen." In 2020, the EPA determined that the herbicide posed no risk to human health, but a federal appeals court in California last year ordered the agency to review that determination, saying it was not supported by enough evidence. French President Emmanuel Macron had pledged to ban glyphosate by 2021, but later withdrew the pledge. In July 2023, the EU's food safety agency said "no key areas of concern" were identified in the use of glyphosate, which would pave the way for a 10-year extension of glyphosate's use.
There is real controversy as to whether glyphosate causes cancer. The European Food Safety Authority found no unacceptable hazards but pointed to data gaps and unanswered questions. This illustrates that we do not yet fully understand the effects of glyphosate. While glyphosate is very effective in killing weeds on farmland, it can also be harmful to the environment.
The decision to extend glyphosate's license by ten years may cause some concern. However, this decision is based on currently available scientific evidence and assessments by relevant agencies. It is important to note that this does not mean that glyphosate is absolutely safe, but that there are no clear warnings within the scope of current knowledge.
The European Commission’s new rules and restrictions are also intended to further control and regulate the use of glyphosate. This shows that the EU attaches great importance to public health and environmental protection, although there are still some controversies.
Overall, the licensing extension for glyphosate has been controversial because of limited understanding of its potential harms. The EU's decision is based on currently available scientific evidence, while also emphasizing the importance of the environment and public health.
