foodwatch joins civil society court case against glyphosate
- Pesticides
foodwatch has filed a request to join the lawsuit initiated by Pesticides Action Network European (PAN Europe) and other civil society organisations against glyphosate before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Despite the herbicide’s proven harmful effects for human health and the environment, the European Commission decided to re-authorise it for another ten years in 2023. The Commission took this decision on the basis of a flawed risk assessment, in which independent scientific studies were largely ignored in favour of industry-funded research, foodwatch criticises. foodwatch International, together with Le Collectif de soutien aux victimes des pesticides de l’Ouest (support group for pesticide victims in the west of France), France Parkinson and the French consumer group l’UFC-Que Choisir, are asking the Court of Justice of the EU to grant them access as interveners in the lawsuit.
“Decades of scientific evidence shows that glyphosate causes unacceptable harm to human health and the environment. Ten years ago, the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer classification of the substance as a probable carcinogenic agent should already have triggered a ban. By ignoring independent science, allowing a flawed risk assessment and eventually renewing the substance, the EU authorities have put the interests of big agri-players at the expense of consumers’ health and the environment”, says Natacha Cingotti from foodwatch International.
Glyphosate is the best-selling herbicide in the world and has been linked to serious health effects, including cancer, reproductive and neurological disorders as well as environmental damage. Its ten-year renewal will continue to allow large scale uses and wide human exposure, starting with farmers and vulnerable groups such as children.
In December 2024, Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN) and five of its members filed a lawsuit at the CJEU to challenge the European Commission’s decision to re-authorise glyphosate for ten years. According to the organisations, this renewed market authorisation is the result of a flawed risk assessment, which is not in line with the EU’s own scientific guidelines and standard international protocols and does not meet key requirements of the EU regulation on pesticides. Therefore the conclusion that glyphosate is safe is scientifically unfounded.