France reaffirms opposition to license renewal for weedkiller glyphosate

PARIS (Reuters) – France reaffirmed on Monday its opposition to plans by the European Commission to extend its approval for the weedkiller product glyphosate, the prime minister’s office said.

“The European Commission has proposed renewing its approval for glyphosate for another 10 years. This is far too long, given the concerns that remain over this product, and France will vote against the proposal, as clearly laid out previously in July,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in a statement.

Concerns over glyphosate’s risk to human health have prompted investigations by U.S. congressional committees and delayed a relicensing decision in the EU.

The European Commission, the EU executive, has proposed extending approval for glyphosate by 10 years after the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) said in a study in March it should not be classified as a cancer-causing substance.

In previous votes, France and Germany have abstained, leading the European Commission to extend the license by 18 months at the end of June 2016 to give the ECHA time to study the chemical further.

French farmers have decried the decision and said it would mean the end of the use of glyphosate.

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Leigh Thomas