Wednesday, June 1, 2016

EU parliament votes to re-approve glyphosate despite ‘concerns about carcinogenicity’

The European Parliament has backed a re-authorization of a pesticide believed to be carcinogenic for another 7 years, despite a widespread protest campaign calling for a full ban instead of a downsized “compromise” deal.
The weedkiller glyphosate is to be given market approval for another seven years, instead of 15 as originally requested, while its use should be limited to professionals only, the European Parliament said in a non-binding resolution approved on Wednesday. The body also advised the chemical shouldn’t be used in public locations, such as parks and playgrounds.
Despite coming up with the approval, the resolution, passed by 374 votes to 225, with 102 abstentions, still noted “concerns about the carcinogenicity and endocrine disruptive properties of the herbicide glyphosate, used in many farm and garden applications.”
The Green Party rioting for a ban said European governments and the European Commission are obliged to take into account the concerns raised by MEPs.
“This is a shot across the bow of the Commission and it must now work with EU governments to address these concerns,” Bart Staes, spokesman for Green food safety and public health said as cited by Reuters.
The current license of the weed killer expires at the of June and the European Commission initially asked for a fifteen-year renewal. National experts from EU member states are yet to decide whether to go ahead with implementing the non-binding resolution.
“We welcome that the European Parliament has always voted for the renewal of the authorization. Due to positive safety assessments of the competent authorities, however, an extension for another 15 years should technically not pose any problems,” Ursula Lüttmer-Ouazane, the spokesperson for Monsanto that uses glyphosate in its herbicide RoundUp, said after vote returns were announced.

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