While the environment committee of the European Parliament had adopted a resolution calling on the re-licensing of glyphosate to be halted last month, the plenary of all MEPs adopted a different position this Tuesday.

Amendments adopted before the vote call for a seven-year licence renewal instead of the 15-year period proposed by the European Commission. This should be for professional use only, the adopted text says.

The European Parliament called for further research and stricter controls on glyphosate’s co-formulants – the other ingredients mixed with it in herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup.

“Unacceptable” burndown

MEPs also condemned as “unacceptable” the use of glyphosate in “green burndown”, i.e. the killing of the actual crop plant prior to harvest to accelerate ripening and facilitate harvesting. This practice leads to increased human exposure and other issues, they argued.

Glyphosate should not be approved for use in or close to public parks, public playgrounds and public gardens, they added.

A motion to make the seven-year period a maximum was rejected, which means glyphosate would come up for renewal again in 2023.

“I think it’s a wise decision,” Irish MEP Sean Kelly told the Irish Farmers Journal after the vote, welcoming the lifting of a potential overnight ban on key herbicides at the end of the current authorisation in June.

“It is consistent with what was recommended by the European Food Safety Agency, which is what we base our decision on,” Kelly added.

Conflicting scientific information

The EFSA has found that glyphosate is not carcinogenic, while the World Health Organisation has deemed it a probable cause of cancer.

The conflicting scientific information has led the European Parliament to enter the debate, even though MEPs, however, do not technically authorise the chemical.

The matter now goes back to the standing committee of experts from EU member states, assembled by the European Commission, to make a formal decision. Their vote was due to take place last month, but was delayed because of the continuing debate across EU institutions.

Sean Kelly said he was confident the committee would now renew glyphosate for seven years, in line with MEPs’ recommendations.

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