Following a discussion Tuesday with Vytenis Andriukaitis, the Commissioner for health and food safety, Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament voiced their rejection to his proposal to re-authorize glyphosate for ten years without any specific restrictions.
S&D spokesperson on glyphosate, Pavel Poc MEP, said:
“This is completely unacceptable. I am shocked to see that the Commission is totally ignoring European citizens and favoring the industry, especially when it comes to use in public areas, non-professional uses and misuse of this widely used substance.
“The contrasting assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the WHO agency (IARC) on the safety of glyphosate show the need to revise the whole authorization process for pesticides in the EU in favor of more transparency, efficiency and democratic control.”
S&D spokesperson on health and environment, Matthias Groote MEP, said:
“The decision by the Parliament cannot be ignored. Last week we passed a resolution which was already very balanced: it restricted the use of glyphosate for seven years, and only to those cases where no alternative methods exist, but banned it in pre-harvest agricultural use, in public parks and in playgrounds.
“This Parliament exercised its controlling function, based on the precautionary principle. Today we told the Commissioner to respect this principle and to listen to the citizens.”
THE GLYPHOSATE BOX
10 Things You Need to Know about Glyphosate
According to a leaked proposal the European Commission plans to propose a 10-year renewal of the authorization of glyphosate with none of the restrictions on non-professional use that the European Parliament wants.
Earlier in April the European Parliament supported a new 7-year approval for the World’s most used herbicide glyphosate. The European Parliament vote had a silver lining despite the disappointment of some groups who were targeting a full ban on the probable human carcinogen.
GM Watch stated : “While this is not the ban that we and many groups wanted, the European Parliament asks for significant restrictions on glyphosate use”:
- No approval of non-professional use
- No approval in or close to public parks/playgrounds/gardens
- No approval where integrated pest management systems are sufficient for necessary weed control
- Strict limitations on pre-harvest applications (desiccation), which are deemed unacceptable
This European Parliament vote to re-approve glyphosate for 7 years as opposed to the usual 15 years is non-binding on the Commission and EU member states, but arguably carries moral weight. The EU member states will take the final vote in May.
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What does it mean if they voiced their disapproval. It was still passed by the European Parliament, correct?
The final vote on the re-licensing of glyphosate in Europe will held be in May by the EU Member States. The European Parliament approved a 7-year re-license for glyphosate but with many restrictions including on non-commercial use, however this has no legal importance as it is the EU Member States that finally decide. The European Commission has now suggested a 10-year re-license without any of the restrictions the European Parliament voted through. Both the suggestions of the European Parliament and the European Commission will be taken into account by the Member States.
Glyphosate’s resistance of majority of all GMO’s, is additional ‘side-effect’ which suits the biotechnology sector (which also produces glyphosate) very well with this EU criminal ‘re-licensing’ disaster. Not only WHO is right, it is by far not enough precise with its statement, that glyphosate is “Probably Carcinogenic to Humans”. Couple of resources for everyone who wants to know the real background behind glyphosate, GMO’s and the related issues with the former weapons manufacturers (all GMO’s producers!):
1. Steven Druker’s book: “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public”
2. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, “Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases” Entropy 2013, 15(4), 1416-1463;
3. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, ” Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance.” Interdiscip Toxicol. 2013; 6(4): 159-184.
4. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff. “Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases III: Manganese, neurological diseases, and associated pathologies.” Surgical Neurology International 2015, 6:45.
5. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff. “Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases IV: cancer and related pathologies,” The Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry 2015, vol 15, 121-159.