ISTOCK, STANDRETThe European Commission voted yesterday (November 27) to approve a license renewal for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s popular herbicide Roundup. European farmers will be able to use glyphosate for another five years.
The decision follows months of indecision among members of the Commission’s Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed about the extension, fueled by conflicting evidence over its potential effects on human and environmental health. The Commission had initially proposed a 10-year extension on glyphosate use, which was rejected by the majority of countries who voted. Eighteen countries voted in favor of a five-year renewal, overriding countries including France, Italy, and Austria, which opposed the decision over health concerns, according to Science.
Germany was among the countries that had voted in favor of the renewal, yet German Chancellor Angela Merkel evidently regretted the decision, according to Reuters. “This did not comply with the instructions worked out by the federal government,” Merkel said in a news conference ...
