MEPs have agreed to compromise approval terms for glyphosate, after the off-patent, broadleaf herbicide - the most widely used herbicide worldwide - became embroiled in debates over transparency, threats to public health and the science underpinning political decision making.

At the Parliamentary plenary meeting on Wednesday, MEPs agreed to support a renewal of glyphosate for seven years, instead of the 15 proposed by the Commission, and said its use should be restricted to agriculture professionals only (preventing use in public parks and gardens), “Given concerns about the carcinogenicity and endocrine disruptive properties of the herbicide.”

MEPs also called for an independent review and the publication of all the scientific evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) used to assess glyphosate, after differing conclusions on the carcinogenicity of the herbicide between EFSA and the World Health Organisation’s cancer research arm (IARC) led to a spat between prominent scientists last year. Scrutiny of this stand-off has led to something of a climb-down from EFSA this year; the EU watchdog has promised to look at active ingredients as they are found on the market in future (a similar approach to that used by IARC), rather than in isolation, as was the case in its 2015 assessment of glyphosate.

Wednesday’s non-binding resolution was passed by 374 votes to 225 in Strasbourg, with 102 abstentions.

MEPs condemned as “unacceptable” the use of glyphosate in “green burndown”: the killing of actual crop plants prior to harvest to accelerate ripening and facilitate harvesting. This is deemed to increase human exposure to the herbicide, traces of which have been found in bread, beer and Europeans’ urine in recent studies.

The NFU chalked up the compromise resolution as a win on Wednesday. NFU president Meurig Raymond had travelled to Strasbourg to lobby MEPs ahead of the vote, and the union described the last minute amendments as a lobbying victory, which “Provide a clear mandate for the European Commission and member states to proceed with the re-authorisation of the active substance glyphosate.”

Speaking after the vote, NFU President Meurig Raymond commented “The result of this vote is very welcome news. It’s fundamental that the agricultural sector is able to use glyphosate responsibly in order to produce healthy products across the sector entering the food chain, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and continue to farm sustainably.

“We were in grave danger of the debate ignoring the impacts this would have had on farms across the UK and Europe and being hijacked by wider political motives. It’s absolutely vital that policy is led by the most up to date scientific evidence out there. I’m glad we’ve seen evidence of this today.” 

However, Greens also welcomed elements of the resolution. EU Greens’ food safety and public health spokesperson Bart Staes said, ”The European Parliament has today highlighted serious concerns with the proposal to re-approve glyphosate for use in Europe and the Commission and EU governments must take note. We would have preferred if MEPs had followed the recommendation of the EP's environment committee in clearly calling for an outright rejection of the re-approval of glyphosate. However, this resolution opposes approval of glyphosate for most of its uses, and takes aim at the excessive length of the approval proposed by the Commission. This is a shot across the bow of the Commission and it must now work with EU governments to address these concerns, rather than pushing ahead with its proposed reapproval.”

Last month, an EU Council vote at which member state ministers were expected to wave through the Commission’s planned 15 year reapproval was postponed after ministers from several countries rebelled, stating their intention to vote against the Commission’s proposal unless the vote was delayed to allow transparency and public health concerns to be addressed. In France, the national government, which is making very public efforts to crack down on chemical use in farming and gardening, has already begun restricting products containing glyphosate.

Discussing these developments, Staes said, ”There is growing opposition among EU governments to reapproving glyphosate for use in the EU and we hope today's vote, combined with major public opposition, will convince more governments to change their minds on glyphosate. Given the serious health and environmental concerns and conflicting scientific advice regarding glyphosate, it is scandalous that the EU Commission proposed to continue to allow its use for 15 more years, without any restrictions on its use. With the WHO assessment having concluded the substance is probably carcinogenic. EU governments must heed these concerns and reject the Commission's proposal."

The next step for glyphosate approval will be taken by Member State representatives, who will vote on the proposal in May. If a qualified majority can’t be reached in the Committee, the Commission will be allowed to make the final decision.