The European Parliament has called for the use of the potentially cancer-causing chemical glypho-sate in pesticides to be extended for seven years but banned for non-professional uses and close to playgrounds and parks.
The recommended extension is half that being proposed by the European Commission ahead of a crucial vote in May, but represents a significant comedown from the total ban that the Parliament’s environment committee called for last month.
The Maltese government has so far not stated its position ahead of the vote, saying only that it is following all discussions. The local pesticide regulator is understood to have recommended against re-authorisation, but the final decision rests with the government.
Glyphosate, a common ingredient in weed killers, is considered a “probable human carcinogen” by the World Health Organisation and environmental NGOs have long called for its use to be suspended. Tests carried out by Friends of the Earth Malta in 2013 found that nine out of 10 people tested in Malta had traces of glyphosate in their urine, the highest rate in Europe.
The Commission’s European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), however, published a report in November stating that the chemical was “unlikely” to cause cancer, paving the way for re-approval.
This report was heavily contested by France, Sweden and the Netherlands, among others, who have all come out strongly against glyphosate use. National pesticide regulators from all EU countries, as well as the Commission, will meet on May 18 to decide on whether to re-authorise its use for 15 years and increase the acceptable amounts of glyphosate residues in food by 66 per cent.
MEP Miriam Dalli, who voted for a total ban in the environment committee last month, told the Times of Malta yesterday she was unhappy with the European Parliament decision to recommend a fresh seven-year authorisation.
“So far there has been no independent review on this substance and we are still awaiting the publication of all the scientific evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has,” she said. “Our political line as Socialists and Democrats was not to include any time frames for any further use of glyphosate.” Dalli said that the vote sent a strong message to the Commission to revise its decision, and called for national experts from all member states to reject the proposal in May.
The decision to recommend a limitation of the extension period rather than an outright ban was spearheaded by the European People’s Party group (with which Nationalist MEPs sit), which said in a statement that “it is absolutely necessary to find solutions to replace [glyphosate] before totally forbidding it”.
Meanwhile, the Health and Environment Alliance, a European NGO, welcomed the limitations on use in public areas and for non-professional uses.
“But it’s important to note that these limitations will not be enough to fully address the risks of people’s exposure to a massively used probable carcinogen and possible endocrine disruptor,” said senior policy advisor Lisette van Vliet.