(AOF) – The European Commission announces that member states “did not reach the qualified majority required to renew or reject” the approval of glyphosate during a vote in the appeals committee. This follows a previous vote in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Scopaff) on October 13, during which Member States also failed to reach the required majority to renew or reject the proposal concerning the Bayer herbicide accused of being carcinogenic.
The Commission announces that it “will now proceed with the renewal of the approval of glyphosate for a period of 10 years”, based on in-depth safety assessments carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (Echa).
The Générations Futures and Foodwatch associations see glyphosate “on the verge of being extended by 10 years because member states, including France, lacked the courage to oppose it”. For them, this position “is a betrayal, unsurprisingly, of the promise made by the President of the Republic in 2017.” “It is unacceptable that the Commission is still considering moving forward with its proposal given the amount of scientific evidence on the effects of this substance on health and the suffering that results from it” considers the NGO HEAL (Alliance for health and the environment).
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