Glyphosate, a component of Roundup, could be re-authorized in Europe. The League asks the French ministers to weigh in this decisive vote.
Glyphosate, not that toxic? The League against Cancer does not believe in it too much. While the European Commission is preparing to renew for 15 years the authorization of the main component of the weedkiller Roundup (Monsanto), which expires at the end of June 2016, the patient association urges the public authorities to weigh in the debate.
Indeed, ministers Stéphane LeFoll and Ségolène Royal will fly to Brussels tomorrow, where they will meet the European Commissioner for Health, Vytenis Andriukaitis, to discuss the issue of pesticides. Their meeting is held a few days before a decisive vote on glyphosate, the future of which will be saddled on March 7 and 8.
Controversy over toxicity
The League is therefore joining forces with the NGOs Générations Futures and foodwatch to demand the ban of this substance in Europe. “The Ministers of Environment and Agriculture must influence the vote of the committee of experts of the member states”, they write in a press release. The composition of this committee remains secret, in defiance of any democratic transparency.
Fears already weigh on the outcome of the vote. In fact, glyphosate is considered probably carcinogenic in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), attached to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the UN agency, there is a body of evidence to establish an association between exposure to glyphosate and the development of cancers (non-Hodgkin lymphoma and lung cancer).
However, “according to documents that foodwatch has been able to obtain, the European Commission is already proposing a renewal of glyphosate”, we can read in the press release. This position is based in particular on an assessment carried out by the German health agency, the BfR, commissioned by the Commission and EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority) to reassess the toxicity of the substance, and resulting in conclusions opposite to those of IARC.
6 NGOs file a complaint against the BfR
“Opinions diverge and scientific doubts persist regarding glyphosate,” write the authors of the press release. But when in doubt – and if there is really any doubt – then the associations demand the implementation of the precautionary principle, enshrined in the EC regulation 178/2002 which makes it possible to protect the population in the event of uncertainty about the harmfulness. of a substance. “Today in France, 10,000 tonnes of glyphosate are used each year,” recalls the League.
For their part, six environmental NGOs (Global 2000, PAN Europe, PAN UK, Générations Futures, Nature et Progrès Belgique and wemove.fr) from five European countries have announced the filing of a complaint against the BfR, responsible for the assessment. of glyphosate in Europe, for “denial of the carcinogenic effects of glyphosate”. The structures denounce “flaws” and biases in the scientific interpretations of the German institute.
Main component of #Roundup weedkiller, #glyphosate, could be re-authorized in Europe. The Ligue contre le cancer Générations Futures & foodwatch France urge the French government to act.
Posted by Why doctor on Wednesday, March 2, 2016
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