Because member states disagree, the European Commission, the administrative arm of the EU, will ask for a short-term extension of the license allowing the use of glyphosate while safety studies of the weedkiller are completed, said Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.
The current license expires on June 30, and absent an agreement products containing glyphosate would have to be removed from sale.
Andriukaitis said the extension would run 12 to 18 months to “see what compromise we reach,” and would coincide with the conclusion of EU research, reported Deutsche Welle. The EU originally planned to approve glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, for 15 years but scaled it back to seven years due to opposition from Italy, France and the Netherlands. Germany has not taken a position on re-approval because of internal discord.
EU members will meet on June 6 in Brussels to consider the proposal for a short-term extension. The WHO cancer agency classified glyphosate in March 2015 as “probably carcinogenic” to humans, setting off global controversy about the chemical. Last week, a report by WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization said glyphosate “is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet.”