The European Commission will renew the permits for the renewal of permits for the use of glyphosate within ten years without the agreement of the Member States, which did not reach the qualified majority required to renew or reject the approval of glyphosate by the Committee of Appeal this Thursday.
This Thursday’s vote took place after a previous one that took place on October 13 in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, where the member states also did not reach the majority needed to approve or reverse the proposal.
In accordance with EU law and without the required majority in either direction, the Commission, which is obliged to adopt a decision on December 15, 2023, when the current approval period ends, decided to extend the most used permissions. herbicide worldwide and in the EU for another decade.
Brussels will now continue to renew the approval of glyphosate, although subject to some new conditions and restrictions including the ban on its use as a pre-harvest desiccant and the need for certain step to protect organisms not targeted by the herbicide.
To make its decision, the Community Executive referred to the report of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which in its assessment report in July pointed out that the use of glyphosate does not represent a health risk.
Member States are responsible for the national authorization of plant protection products containing glyphosate and may restrict their use at national and regional level if they consider it necessary based on the results of risk assessments, which are considered in particular the need to protect biodiversity.
