Environmental NGOs have filed a legal complaint against EU authorities for approving the continued use of glyphosate, ignoring advice from an international cancer research agency that it is a probable carcinogen.
Six environmental NGOs (including Sustain member PAN UK) from five European countries have filed a formal legal complaint against those responsible for the assessment of glyphosate in Europe, for denying the cancer-causing effects of glyphosate and getting its European market license renewed.
In March 2015, glyphosate was classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a probable human carcinogen. But in Europe, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) – acting as a Rapporteur for the European Commission – and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), approved the industry’s application and proposed to classify glyphosate as 'non-carcinogenic'. EU law forbids active substances which can cause cancer from being used as pesticides, but now the green light has been given for glyphosate's re-approval in Europe.
Glyphosate-based products are the world's most widely used weed-killers, used not only in the production of food but also in public areas such as public gardens, parks and cemeteries. Residues can be found in the environment, in food and in our bodies.
'When we looked into how the BfR and EFSA on one side, and the experts of the World Health Organisation on the other, could reach opposite conclusions after reviewing the same animal studies, we were stunned by what we found' said Angeliki Lysimachou of Pesticide Action Network Europe. 'The flaws in the glyphosate risk assessment are unacceptable, unlawful, and dangerous. We urge European member states to reject the re-approval of glyphosate.'
See Sustain's campaign for pesticide-free organic food here.
Published Friday 4 March 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
