European Parliament Establishes Special Committee for Herbicide Oversight

This week, Members of the European Parliament established a special committee during a plenary session in Strasbourg that will review future permits for pesticide use, after representatives, mainly from the Greens, and activists lost the battle for a complete ban on glyphosate, given that at the end of last year the European Union extended the use of this controversial herbicide for five years.

On Thursday, the last day of the plenary session, 30 Members of the European Parliament were elected to the committee, which will have a nine-month mandate with the possibility of extension. The committee will be responsible for compiling a final report with study results and recommendations, which will be decided upon by the Parliament in full session. The committee’s report does not have legal significance on the final decision of the European Commission.

EU member states accepted the European Commission’s proposal on November 27 and, with a qualified majority, extended the permit for the use of glyphosate, a herbicide suspected of being carcinogenic, for another five years.

>>>EU Extended Glyphosate Use Permit for Five Years

The World Health Organization (WHO), through its International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), announced in March 2015 that the herbicide glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic.”

Subsequently, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reached a contrary conclusion, claiming that there is no evidence linking glyphosate to cancer in humans. This was later confirmed by the European Chemicals Agency (EHCA), stating that glyphosate is not toxic and declaring it non-carcinogenic.

– The newly established committee should review the herbicide licensing process in the European Union. The initiative was launched after the use of glyphosate was extended for five years. We believe that the two European agencies, EFSA and EHCA, compromised the authorization of pesticides, and we want to make the authorization process transparent through the committee, said Croatian independent MEP Davor Škrlec from the Greens/European Free Alliance group.

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He also reminded that neither agency wishes to publish the studies on which they based their conclusions that glyphosate is non-carcinogenic and environmentally harmless, even under the threat of a lawsuit before the EU court.

– This has raised doubts, especially when it was revealed that the studies were commissioned by manufacturers, Škrlec added.

– We hope that independent studies will confirm the harmfulness of glyphosate and that a type of monopoly on weed control agents will actually be abolished. There are, in fact, agents that are harmless to humans and the environment, Škrlec said, adding that the committee advocates for the use of biopesticides.

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He emphasizes the importance of legislative measures to abolish the monopoly and to ensure a level playing field for other plant protection products in the market.

Croatia, Škrlec pointed out, changed its position from “abstaining” to “against” the use of glyphosate during the vote in November in the Standing Committee of the European Commission for Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Paff), which consists of representatives from member states.

– However, German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt changed his mind at the last minute and voted for the extension of glyphosate use. That vote proved decisive, meaning we will continue to have a weed killer in our fields, Škrlec explained.

>>>Tolušić: Croatia Still Opposes Glyphosate Permit Extension

Glyphosate is the dominant ingredient in the weed killer Roundup produced by agricultural and biotechnology giant Monsanto, and in Germany alone, it is used on about forty percent of all arable land.

– It has been in use for a long time, which speaks to how entrenched it is in agriculture, Škrlec said.

Representatives of organizations that protect the interests of European farmers emphasize that glyphosate is safe and that its ban would lead to a loss of competitiveness. The story of glyphosate, a chemical compound that is the main component of several broad-spectrum herbicides and has been in use for over 40 years, continues.