The Netherlands and Sweden have joined France on Saturday in coming out strongly against the re-licensing of glyphosate-based herbicides in Europe. The remarkable rebellion against the World’s most used herbicide is likely to delay the expected March 8 EU vote by member countries on the re-licensing of the chemical.
Public pressure against glyphosate in countries across Europe has been intense, with nearly 1.5 million people petitioning the EU’s health commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis, for a ban on the substance, the Guardian reported.
After a Dutch parliament vote opposing the renewal of glyphosate’s permit, the Netherlands called for a postponement of the EU-wide decision. “If there is no possibility to postpone the vote, then we will vote against the proposal,” said Marcel van Beusekom, a spokesman for the Netherlands agriculture ministry.
The move by Sweden and the Netherlands follows the announcement on Friday by French Minister of Ecology Ségolène Royal that France will vote against the EU re-licensing of glyphosate.
Royal also added that France was not backing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on their recent safety assessment of glyphosate and was instead basing their decision on the report of the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2015, which declared glyphosate to be a probable human carcinogen.
The Swedish environment minister, Åsa Romson, said: “We won’t take risks with glyphosate and we don’t think that the analysis done so far is good enough. We will propose that no decision is taken until further analysis has been done and the EFSA scientists have been more transparent about their considerations.”
Romson added: “We are raising concerns because our citizens are raising concerns. They want to feel safe and secure with food and production in our society.”
This move by France and their EU partners will hit the biotech giant Monsanto and other large pesticide companies which rely on glyphosate-based herbicides for a large percentage of their global profits. Glyphosate is now the most widely and heavily applied weed-killer in the history of chemical agriculture globally.
Andriukaitis meanwhile confirmed that member states would discuss the regulation of glyphosate in the days to come and also added, in a very important shift in EU policy; “I commit to working with the member states to draw up a list of co-formulants in pesticides that could pose a health risk”. This is another statement that will shake the Biotech industry to the core, as previously all regulators worldwide have completely ignored the possible health risks of co-formulants, otherwise known as adjuvants or non-active ingredients in pesticides.
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Thank you…and big respect…vith best wishis…
A big thank you to advocates in the EU. Here in Vermont, USA, we are struggling just to get a label on GMOs, when really we need to stop using these harmful agricultural practices which poison people worldwide and ruin our ecosystems. There may be a special place in hell for the people responsible for promoting poisons for profit. At least we can hope so.
Don’t waste time labeling it. Just boycott the businesses of anyone using or selling it and ostracize anyone involved in it.
Congratulations to the courageous citizens and the few courageous governments with integrity enough to stand up to the apparently quite corrupted EU.
Glyphosate appears to be highly toxic—precisely the opposite of what we’ve been told.
In Boulder County, Colorado (USA) GMO corporations have been aggressively force feeding this deadly, useless agriculture upon the citizens against their wishes. Hopefully, the Boulder County Commissioners will finally have the courage and integrity to stand up against the corrupt Colorado state officials and as well as corporate interests.
In Vermont, GMO labeling is an especially hot topic.
Perhaps the most corrupt institution on the planet (the US Congress) will soon be voting on the DARK ACT, the latest attempt to deny Americans the right to know what is in their all but inedible food supply.
This isn’t science; this is fake technology; this is about $$$$.
Great news the EU is challenging the license renewal. We’ve known since the 2012 Seralini study that indeed adjuvant ingredients like POE-15 greatly increase glyphosate toxicity in human cells. This challenges the active principle misconception of pesticides in non target species. Ban Roundup now, we already have enough data to know it’s devastating to human and soil biology: www.gmoseralini.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2012.-Mesnage-et-al.-Ethoxylated-adjuvants-of-glyphosate-based-herbicides-are-active-principles-of-human-cell-toxicity.pdf
Great news! Let’s see if they have what it takes to vote for what the people actually want, rather than Monsanto greed.
Roundup has made my life a living hell. I can eat one or two items in the grocery store !if I’m even lucky enough to find that! They have practically killed me with Roundup spray down my food! That is why I will never vote for Hillary Clinton, Miss Monsanto!
What are they waiting for in banning it? It is carcinogenic. It has been proved so many times. The WHO will change their bad report once Monsanto will again pay their top leaders and Glyphosate will become again magically safe. Ban it now. Also in Italy we do not want it. Where are our leaders in this decision??? Glyphosate can be fund in every grain and crop even organic. It is a pest that must be stopped before it is too late. Why Monsanto does not get sued and stopped making this product after a report like that of WHO and after many years of use all around the World??