Proof of Tory Support for Glyphosate

 Further to my last post,  I received a press release from Tory MEP for the South West, Julie Girling whose aim is to fight the 'needless farm ban':

' Julie Girling is leading Britain's Conservative MEPs in fighting moves to ban an important herbicide.
 She said: "Farmers need this product to protect arable fields and horticulture crops. It is also needed where there are large hard surfaces - airports for example - to tackle damaging weeds."
Scientists at the European Food Safety Authority have researched the substance thoroughly and found that glyphosate poses no unacceptable risk when used appropriately and is unlikely to pose a hazard to humans.Based on that advice, the EU Commission is proposing to renew authorisation, which is due to expire on June 30. However, MEPs on the Environment Committee passed a resolution objecting to the approval of glyphosate, leading to this week's vote of the full parliament.Mrs Girling said:"This product has been used for years and we are not going to stand by and watch over-zealous MEPs from the Left slip through a ban in the face of the science.
"This is a decision for member state experts. Parliament should let them get on with things. As MEPs we should support evidence based policy making. "In this case some anti-farmer MEPs are straying outside their remit and leaving the public open to higher food prices and scarcity issues"
 "We will not let them get away with it. We'll support fairness for farmers and consumers."

The US Center of Food Safety strongly disagrees with the European Food Safety Authority assessment.
'EFSA relied heavily on the glyphosate assessment conducted by German pesticide regulators, which was based on egregious violations of accepted standards for interpreting studies.  For instance, faulty statistical methods were used to reject clear evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in experimental animals.'

THE VOTE on 13th April

The Press release said:

 Given concerns about the carcinogenicity and endocrine disruptive properties of the herbicide glyphosate, used in many farm and garden applications, the EU Commission should renew its marketing approval for just 7 years, instead of 15, and for professional uses only, Parliament says in a resolution voted on Wednesday. MEPs call for an independent review and the publication of all the scientific evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) used to assess glyphosate.

Glyphosate should not be approved for use in or close to public parks, public playgrounds and public gardens, they add.

National experts sitting in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Phytopharmaceuticals Section) will vote to adopt or reject the Commission proposal by qualified majority in May. If there is no such majority, it will be up to the European Commission to decide.

Green MEP for the South West, Molly Scott Cato, is against the continued use of glyphosate.

EU and the Environment

The Green Party is campaigning to stay in Europe, but with reforms. One of the reasons for remaining in the EU is the Environment. 

It’s only by working with our European neighbours that we can tackle the big issues like climate change, protect wildlife and reduce pollution. Thanks to EU rules, our beaches are cleaner, our air cleaner and our dirtiest power stations are being shut down. The UK government though, is always wanting to support corporations rather than people and their well being.

A current example is the use of glyphosate - a widely used weedkiller that the World Health Organisation has found is probably carcinogenic.

On 8 March Italy joined France, Sweden and the Netherlands in opposing a new 15-year licence for glyphosate at an EU meeting which had been expected to rubber stamp its reapproval. This chemical is a core ingredient in Monsanto's $5bn-a-year Roundup brand. If no new arrangement is found then the licence for glyphosate will expire at the end of June. Monsanto is furious.

True to form, however, the UK Government (not UK Green MEPS) is supporting the use of glyphosate. The European Parliament is about to vote on a resolution that would support a ban on glyphosate.

The campaign group SumOfUs is organising a petition to tell MEPS that they are accountable to us, not Monsanto.

Keep an eye out and see what happens. The EU may offer us protection. If we are outside of the EU, the UK government would definitely not.

See the Guardian article.