Monsanto threatens legal action against European Commission over potential glyphosate ban

Friday, July 01, 2016 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: Monsanto, glyphosate, legal threats

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(NaturalNews) The world's most evil corporation is throwing a temper tantrum, following news that the European Union (EU) might not renew a permit allowing the world's most widely used herbicide to be applied to European food crops.

EU leaders, France and Germany, have both been reluctant to renew approval for Monsanto's Roundup formula, citing evidence that the chemical cocktail is harmful to humans and the environment. Both countries earlier abstained from voting on a proposal to extend the permit, and since then French politician Segolene Royal has indicated that France will now definitively vote no to extending approval.

"France will vote against the glyphosate vote," Royal told the media ahead of a meeting of EU environment ministers.

The current EU license for glyphosate, the primary active ingredient in Roundup, is set to expire at the end of June. If the permit isn't extended, manufacturers will have just six months to completely phase out all use of the chemical from their herbicide formulas.

The European Commission had initially proposed renewing glyphosate's approval permit for another 15 years, a decision that critics say contradicts emerging science showing that glyphosate may cause cancer. Despite efforts to ramrod the renewal through, a key vote was canceled at the last minute.

"Since it was obvious that no qualified majority would have been reached, a vote was not held," explained a commission spokesperson, who issued a statement picked up by several media sources.

Monsanto: poisoning humanity for profit since 1901

The EU Commission's siding with the majority of member states in opposing the continued use of glyphosate represents a rare instance of unelected bureaucrats standing on the side of the people rather than the corporations. It also demonstrates yet another win in favor of taking a precautionary approach to potentially cancer-causing chemicals.

"As long as there is conflicting scientific advice, glyphosate should not be approved for use in the EU," stated Franziska Achterberg, food policy director at Greenpeace EU in Brussels, following the suspension of an earlier glyphosate vote back in March.

The EU's likely decision to back off and allow glyphosate's permit to expire represents a prudent response to recent findings by the United Nations' International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), showing that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans."

That study, as Natural News has previously reported, found "limited evidence" that the herbicide causes cancer in humans, but "sufficient evidence" if you consider evidence from animal studies. This is enough to give pause to glyphosate's use on foods consumed by both animals and humans.

Of course, Monsanto has a different opinion, arguing as it always does that glyphosate is completely safe – a hardly surprising assessment, considering the chemical giant stands to lose upwards of $100 million in annual profits if the EU permit for glyphosate lapses.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Monsanto has yet to rule out a possible lawsuit against the EU Commission, should it decide to forego approval for the company's high-profit weedkiller.

The 28 member states of the EU have until the end of June to reach a majority decision. If they don't, the European Commission may decide to take action on its own, according to reports, but this is unlikely.

Despite reassurances by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that concerns about glyphosate safety are unwarranted, and that glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans, the EU Commission has already said it plans to err on the side of caution.

If no decision is reached by the end of the month, "glyphosate will be no longer authorized in the EU and member states will have to withdraw authorizations for all glyphosate-based products," officials indicated.

Sources for this article include:

STLToday.com

ScienceMag.org

Science.NaturalNews.com