The European Commission will renew the approval of glyphosate for another 10 years after member states failed to agree on whether to renew or reject the approval of the herbicide during a vote at the Appeal Committee last week.
In the absence of a required qualified majority decision, and with the need to make a decision by 15 December 2023, the Commission said the substance would be approved subject to certain conditions and restrictions.
Denmark, Spain, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, and Portugal were among the countries that voted for renewal, while Austria, Croatia, and Luxembourg were against. Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy abstained from the vote.
In a statement, the European Commission said, ‘In line with EU legislation and in the absence of the required majority in either direction, the Commission is now obliged to adopt a decision before 15 December 2023 when the current approval period expires. The Commission – based on comprehensive safety assessments carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), together with EU Member States – will now proceed with the renewal of the approval of glyphosate for a period of 10 years, subject to certain new conditions and restrictions. These restrictions include a prohibition of pre-harvest use as a desiccant and the need for certain measures to protect non-target organisms.
‘Member States are responsible for national authorisation of plant protection products (PPPs) containing glyphosate and continue to be able to restrict their use at national and regional level if they consider this necessary based on the outcome of risk assessments, particularly factoring in the need to protect biodiversity.’
Agchem company Bayer welcomed the EU executive’s decision, saying in a statement, “This reauthorisation allows us to continue to provide important integrated weed management technology to farmers across the European Union.” However, the decision has been criticised by environmental campaigners such as Greenpeace.