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The European Commission vote concerning the ban or extension of the use of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate – due this week – has been postponed, it is said, to give Germany time to form a coalition government.  No future date is yet fixed, but it should take place before 31 December when the present authorisation runs out.

Italy’s Minister fo Agriculture, M. Martina has announced he will vote against the use of glyphosate.  In the 2016 vote, Italy abstained, along with Austria, Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg, Blugaria and Greece.  France and Malta voted against.

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) says glyphosate is a suspected cancer producing product: “probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A)”. Whereas the European Food Safety Authority/EFSA says it is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans. The EU Commission has based its proposition on the EFSA’s assessment.

Meanwhile Cédric Villani, président (and dapper, mathematician) of the French parliamentary office on the evaluation of scientific and technological choices has been nominated to produce a report on the independence and objectivity – or not –  of European agencies. The report should give Europeans a more transparent, objective and trustworthy basis on which to take decisions.

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See:

Controversial weed killer glyphosate cleared by European Chemicals Agency
Glyphosate and alternative farming
Glyphosate: the war on weeds