The French government is to press ahead with plans to phase out the use of the popular herbicide glyphosate within three years.
The herbicide is used in Roundup, a product owned by Monsanto, and studies have indicated that the substance could be potentially harmful to humans, though conflicting studies debate the full effect on human health.
There is a heavy global reliance on the product, and the French government has established a taskforce to help farmers find alternative products to use on their crops.
Five-year approval
In February this year, the European Parliament re-authorised the use of glyphosate for a further five years.
The parliament has established a new committee to review the authorisation procedure following the release of the Monsanto papers, which shed cast doubt on the pesticide authorisation process.
SHARING OPTIONS