Malta only EU country to vote against extended use of glyphosate

EU nations refused to back a limited extension of the herbicide glyphosate, with Malta the only country to outright vote against it.

The European Commission had proposed a 12 to 18 month extension for glyphosate, so as to allow time for further scientific studies on its feared carcinogenic risks.

While 20 member states backed the proposal, seven – Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Portugal, Austria and Luxemboug – abstained, meaning that the necessary qualified majority wasn’t reached. Malta was the only EU country to vote against it. 

“There can be no negotiation over issues that can anyway harm people’s health, which is why Malta voted against the proposal,” environment minister Jose Herrera said in a statement. “Today’s vote is further confirmation of this government’s environmental credentials.”

The EU license for glyphosate, the main ingredient of Monsanto’s Roundup, expires at the end of the month. If no deal is reached before 30 June, glyphosate-containing products will have to be phased out of the EU market within six months.

A report by the World Health Organisation’s Lyon-based International Agency for Research on Cancer in June 2015 classified glyphosate as a ‘Group 2A’ carcinogen.

However, the WHO and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said in May that glyphosate was unlikely to pose a risk to people exposed to it through food.

Their finding matches that of the European Food Safety Authority, an independent agency funded by the EU.