28 November 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
We need to give Irish farmers enough time to plan for an alternative – says Clune
Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has welcomed the granting of a new five-year licence for glyphosate which was announced today in Brussels. The Appeal Committee, which consists of experts from the EU member states and the European Commission, met today to discuss renewing the approval of the active substance glyphosate. A qualified majority of member states voted in favour of the Commission’s proposal for a five-year re-approval.
The Ireland South MEP supported the granting of an extension of the license in a recent vote in the European Parliament.
Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)
“Last month I voted to approve glyphosate for a period of 7 years. We have been given a 5 year extension. We need to give Irish farmers enough time to plan for an alternative. The Commission and Parliament position were based on findings from the European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Agency, who both concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to be a carcinogen. This is in line with the findings of similar bodies in the USA, Canada and Japan.
18 member states voted in favour of granting the license for another 5 years, including Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania which previously abstained, while nine member states voted against and just Portugal abstained. Germany voted in favour of re-approval, having previously abstained.
