Government entities are passing the buck over extending the use of the potentially cancer-causing chemical glyphosate in pesticides for another nine years, with none willing to state Malta’s position ahead of a crucial vote in Brussels.
Experts from all EU countries met in Brussels yesterday to decide on the European Commission’s proposal to re-authorise the use of glyphosate for nine years when its licence expires at the end of June, with a vote expected today.
The government has so far not answered questions on how Malta intends to vote. When contacted yesterday, a spokeswoman for the environment ministry said only: “Government’s intention is to follow the advice given by the technical experts in terms of the Pesticides Control Act.”
However, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), which as the national regulator represents the technical experts referred to by the ministry, also refused to state what advice it had given.
“The minister responsible is the minister for agriculture and hence you may wish to refer your questions accordingly,” chairman Marcel Pizzuto told this newspaper. Further questions sent to the agriculture ministry were not answered by the time of going to print.
Environmental NGOs have long called for glyphosate use to be suspended under the EU’s precautionary principle, which states that potentially hazardous protects should not be used unless they can be proven to be safe.
The chemical, a common ingredient in weed killers, is considered a “probable human carcinogen” by the World Health Organisation cancer agency.
The Commission’s European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), however, published a heavily contested report in November stating that the chemical was “unlikely” to cause cancer, paving the way for re-approval.
A further study published this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organization concluded that the chemical was “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet”.
The study has since been hit by claims of conflict of interest, due to financial links with Monsanto, a major lobbyist for glyphosate.
Tests carried out by Friends of the Earth Malta in 2013 found that nine of 10 people tested in Malta had traces of glyphosate in their urine, the highest rate in Europe.
The European Parliament last month called for a seven-year re-approval, rather than the 15 years originally planned, while Maltese MEP Miriam Dalli has called for an outright ban.
The MCCAA has said it will not consider a unilateral national ban unless the EU votes against re-approval.
In March, this newspaper reported the fears of local environmentalists that different government entities were consistently refusing to take responsibility for pesticide regulation, creating a state of fragmentation with disastrous results on biodiversity and public health.