Glyphosate EU re-assessment facing premature death?

The progress of EU glyphosate re-review has a new trend! At the meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) on 14 October 2022, SCoPAFF failed to adopt a decision
to extend the current approval period for glyphosate by one year due to the failure to reach the required majority.

Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in the world and plays a pivotal role
in the agrochemical industry.
In recent years, glyphosate has been controversial due to its possible carcinogenicity, and its use prospects in many countries and regions are under pressure
from all sides.

Proposal for EU extension of glyphosate validity period

In the EU, glyphosate is currently valid until 15 December 2022, and its re-evaluation is
ongoing.

As the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said earlier this year that more time was needed for the assessment and postponed the end of the peer review portion of its responsibility until July 2023, the glyphosate re-review timeline has been well beyond the approved expiry date
.
(For the phased results and specific timeline of the re-evaluation, please refer to the relevant articles at the end of the article)

As a result, the European Commission (EC) proposed a temporary one-year extension of the validity period in accordance with EU pesticide regulations, which was presented to member states
at the SCoPAFF meeting on October 14.

SCoPAFF meeting voting results

However, the proposal could not be adopted
at the meeting because it did not obtain the necessary majority.

According to sources inside the meeting, the overwhelming majority of member states are in favor of extending the
ratification period.
Luxembourg, Malta and Croatia were among the member States that voted against the extension of the ratification deadline, and France, Germany and Slovenia abstained, resulting in the proposal receiving 64.
73 per cent of support, slightly below the required percentage of 65 per cent and regretting its failure
.

Two chances after the first round of voting

However, the vote does not represent the final review of glyphosate in the EU, and the EU Executive Committee has submitted the relevant documents to the Arbitration Committee for further consideration on November 15, 2022, and if the necessary majority is not obtained at the arbitration committee meeting, the proposal will be forwarded to the College of Commissioners, which can decide at its discretion whether to approve the proposal
.

There is still an opportunity to change the final outcome of this proposal, and as the deadline for glyphosate's validity in the EU is very close, both the European Commission and the Glyphosate Renewal Group (GRG) are doing their best to move forward with the follow-up process
.

See how glyphosate turns against the wind

According to the disclosed information, the relevant companies are still optimistic about the final outcome of the glyphosate extension proposal
.

The GRG, a group of business groups, submitted a statement to the EC in support of the proposed extension ahead of its October 14 meeting
.
The document mainly explains the main reasons why the validity period of glyphosate should be extended:

· Preliminary assessment results indicate that glyphosate meets approved criteria for human health and environmental safety;

· ECHA does not recommend changing the hazard classification, which is unreasonable to classify as a carcinogen;

· EFSA and ECHA have revised their timelines for the remaining steps in the re-review process, and EFSA is not expected to provide a peer review conclusion until July 2023;

· The GRG has addressed the unprecedented number of comments received during the public consultation, including a comprehensive public literature review in accordance with EFSA guidelines, thereby addressing possible public concerns
about the adequacy of literature reviews.

In addition, GRG informed the official website of the outcome of SCoPAFF not reaching a decision on the extension proposal at the meeting, but expressed confidence that the current approval would be extended in accordance with Chapter 17 of the EU Pesticide Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, giving EFSA sufficient time to complete the ongoing scientific assessment
.

The GRG also highlighted in its statement that glyphosate was found to meet the approval criteria
in the Draft Re-evaluation and Evaluation (dRAR) published by Member States in June 2021.
It finally expressed confidence in the EU pesticide regulatory process and will continue to cooperate
transparently with the EC and member states.

Therefore, from the current GRG's statement, the results of the proposed extension of the validity period of glyphosate are still relatively optimistic
.
At least from the technical point of view of scientific assessment, glyphosate currently meets the EU approval conditions for pesticide actives
.
Although it cannot be ruled out that some member countries continue to abstain or oppose the vote for their own reasons or pressure from environmental organizations, it is believed that with the joint efforts of the EC and GRG, there is still hope that the validity of glyphosate can be extended and the re-evaluation
will be completed according to the timeline announced by ECHA and EFSA.