EU panel rejects bid to stop Monsanto weedkiller

Sales of the herbicide, which is contained in 750 products, must stop in December if not given re-authorization.

A key committee in the European Parliament rejected a proposal Tuesday to halt an extension in the use of the world’s most popular weedkiller.

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety voted against the objection raised by ENVI Rapporteur Kateřina Konečná, a member of the Nordic Green Left faction, who tried to block extension of glyphosate. The herbicide created by Monsanto is best known by the brand name Roundup.

The motion was rejected with 25 votes in favor, 32 against, 10 abstentions.

Sales of the herbicide, which is contained in 750 products, must stop in December if not given re-authorization. The Commission proposes to extend marketing to June of next year.

Environmental groups often cite a report by the World Health Organization that suggests links to cancer. That 2015 report by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer found “sufficient evidence in animals” to indicate glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

The European Crop Protection Association supports the herbicide, saying the report contradicted “the world’s most robust and stringent regulatory systems — namely the European Union and the United States — in which crop protection products have undergone extensive reviews based on multi-year testing” and were not found to pose a cancer risk to humans.

Konečná railed against her colleagues for not backing her measure.

“I am really sad that this objection wasn’t approved. I have to say that this is a huge hypocrisy from the ENVI committee members,” she said.

Earlier, the Commission told the panel that there is a big chance that a report on the issue by the EU’s food safety agency will be delayed, which Konečná called outrageous.

“This is unacceptable hazard with a health of the EU’s citizens,” Konečná said.

A Commission spokesman defended the policy.

“Extending the approval period by six months will give EFSA [the European Food Safety Agency] time to finalize its scientific conclusions on glyphosate,” Enrico Brivio said in a statement.

“On the renewal of the authorization, the Commission, in consultation with Member States, will take appropriate risk management action following the publication of the EFSA opinion,” he added.

While widespread in use, glyphosate-based products face scrutiny from environmental groups, who argue it may be harmful to humans. Advocates want further testing, citing studies suggesting an increase of cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in those exposed to it. Some other studies have suggested a link to human and animal cells being damaged in vitro, which can also lead to cancer.

First created in 1969 by agribusiness giant Monsanto, which held the U.S. patent until 2000, glyphosate-based herbicides are now produced by many other companies across the world. Monsanto’s Roundup brand is still a large part of the market with, $5 billion worth sold in 2014 alongside their “Roundup Ready” genetically modified seeds in the U.S.

The company defends the product, with Philip Miller, Vice President Global Regulatory Affairs, saying the WHO review “does not meet the standards used by respected agencies around the world,” referring to the United States and preliminary EU reports.

He also said it conflicts with a study by the German government, the current rapporteur member state for glyphosate. That report recommends reauthorization of the chemical in Europe.

Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg said it was typical of Monsanto to dismiss studies linking the chemical to cancer and chastised the EU approach.

“Given the uncertainty about the effects of glyphosate, the EU should carry out an in-depth and independent scientific risk assessment,” she said. “Unfortunately, EU safety testing relies heavily on unpublished industry data. This is unacceptable and has to change if Europeans are to have any trust in the EU’s safety standards.”

Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds survive the brands own herbicides, allowing farmers to widely spread the Roundup herbicide on a field without damaging the GM “cash crops” they wish to grow.