Unsurprisingly, Member States representatives at the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF Committee) were unable to reach a position on being either for or against the reauthorisation of glyphosate at a qualified majority following the Commission’s proposal. The procedure will therefore continue with an appeal in the coming weeks. Copa and Cogeca takes note of the outcome of this vote, while calling on Member States to assume their responsibilities.
Once again, despite the conclusions of both EU agencies that carried out the assessment (the European Chemicals Agency and the European Food Safety Authority) we have witnessed a media-political shuffle, far removed from the aspirations of the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen to depolarise agricultural debates. Whatever the final decision that emerges from this re-authorisation process, there is one reality that Member States will have to face up to; there is as of yet no equivalent alternative to this herbicide, and without it, many agricultural practices, notably soil conservation, would be rendered complex, leaving farmers with no solutions.
Fonte: Copa Cogeca.
