The European Commission (EC) reported this Thursday that will extend the permit for the use of the herbicide glyphosate for a period of ten years, which expires on December 15 after member states of the social club failed to reach an agreement for or against at a meeting held today.

On 13 October, Member States at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Scopaff) voted in favor of the Commission’s proposal to renew the use of glyphosate for ten years, but The majority required to approve or reject the initiative was not achieved.

For this reason, this Thursday the proposal was voted on again in the Appeal Committee, where the countries of the European Union once again “They did not achieve the required qualified majority” renew or reject the approval of glyphosate,” the EC said in a statement.

In this context, the final decision must be taken by the European Commission, and today He stated that he would renew the authorization use glyphosate for ten years.

“In accordance with EU law and in the absence of the necessary majority in either direction (for or against), the Commission is now must make a decision before December 15, 2023, when the current approval period expires” for glyphosate, the community leader clarified.

“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 to extend the approval of glyphosate for a period of ten years, subject to certain new conditions and restrictions,” Brussels added.

These restrictions includeBan on the use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant. and the need to take certain measures to protect non-target organisms when using the chemical.

Although the Commission announced that it would extend the authorization of glyphosate in the European Union for a decade, it recalled that Member States responsible for national permits phytosanitary products containing glyphosate.

Thus, every EU country will still be able to limit its use nationally and regionally if deemed necessary “Depending on the results of the risk assessment, taking into account, in particular, the need to protect biodiversity,” the EC recalled.

Products containing glyphosate are mainly used in agriculture and gardening against brushwoodwhich harms crops.

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in 2015 about carcinogenic risks of glyphosate, The European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Agency later said they had scientific evidence to classify the herbicide as non-carcinogenic.

So, after two years of controversy, Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide In 2017, it received approval for continued use in the EU. albeit for a shorter period than usual, five years instead of the usual 15, and last year this license was extended again until December 15th pending a report from EFSA.

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This European agency concluded last July that the level of risk does not justify a ban, provided that the use of pesticides is accompanied by measures to mitigate the health of people, animals and the environment, although the report acknowledges that some problems cannot be assessed.

With this report in hand, the community leader proposed last September extend the EU license for glyphosate for another ten yearsbut with “strict conditions”.

In Mexico, the district court will rule on the case protection sought by Monsanto from bans on glyphosate and genetically modified corn. Julia Alvarez Icaza, a lawyer from the Maíz class action legal team, assured that the draft ruling by Judge Ricardo Gallardo Vara, which proposes to protect Monsanto, rejects more than 200 studies on its negative effects on health, and that the herbicide is a possible cancer generator.

“This is a clear trendHe only values ​​evidence and arguments provided by agribusiness, to such an extent that he rejects what the WHO (World Health Organization) says, which is the international body mandated to speak on the right to health,” he said this Wednesday in Aristegui live.

The project, which will be voted on this Wednesday, was postponed by the court for a deeper study of the issue at hand.

Watch the full interview with Julia Alvarez Icaza here:

(according to information from EFE and Aristegui News)