"EU fails again to agree glyphosate renewal", 9 November 2017

EU member states [...] again failed to agree on a licence renewal period for the controversial herbicide glyphosate, used in the Monsanto produce Roundup among other produces, despite an 18-month long debate. Ministers in the standing committee on plant animal food and feed in Brussels were not able to reach the qualified majority necessary and the meeting resulted in a "no opinion" outcome... In order to try to break the deadlock caused by Thursday's rejection of its proposal, the Commission announced that a further attempt will be taken within the appeal committee for food safety before 22 November... If no decision decision is taken, the Commission will have the power to adopt its own proposal without the backing of European governments... The license for glyphosate will expire on 15 December. Even though two EU agencies have said glyphosate is safe, some NGO and environmental activists strongly objects, as the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans".