Available scientific evidence does not allow glyphosate to be classified as a carcinogen, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) said on Tuesday.
"After a thorough review of the scientific evidence, the Committee concludes once again that a classification of glyphosate as a carcinogen is not justified", underlined the ECHA in a press release, about this controversial herbicide used massively across the world. world.
"ECHA's Risk Assessment Committee has formed its independent scientific opinion: the current classification of glyphosate does not change," ECHA's risk assessment director Mark Rasenberg told AFP. .
Glyphosate, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world, is currently classified as "damaging to eyes" and "toxic to aquatic environments".
EU Glyphosate Authorization Extended Until End of Review Process
This assessment is essential for the European Commission to decide whether or not to extend the authorization issued to the herbicide in the EU.
The current authorization, extended in 2017 for five years, expires on December 15, 2022, but it will be automatically extended until the end of the evaluation process, unless a particular risk is identified in the meantime.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) had postponed until July 2023 EFSA's conclusions on "all possible risks of exposure to glyphosate for animals, people and the environment", a report initially expected in the second half of 2022, in order to be able to "take into consideration" hundreds of contributions.
France wants to ban it by 2023
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said she was “deeply concerned” by this postponement.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) had for its part classified glyphosate in March 2015 as being “probably carcinogenic” for humans.
The Glyphosate Assessment Group, made up of four rapporteur Member States (France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden), must provide EFSA with an updated opinion by the end of September, before a series of consultations and final conclusions of the regulator.
France has set itself the goal of phasing out most of the uses of this weedkiller classified as "probable carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2021, before a total ban in 2023. Agricultural organizations oppose it, pointing to the absence of an alternative product.
