The European Commission, based on the assessment made by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of the impact of glyphosate on the health of humans, animals and the environment, has approved the use of glyphosate for the next 10 years.

“On 16 November 2023, during a vote at the Appeal Committee, Member States did not reach a qualified majority on the Commission's proposal to renew the approval of glyphosate for 10 years. This followed a previous vote at the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) on 13 October 2023, in which Member States also did not reach the required majority to renew (or reject) the proposal,” the Commission said in a statement.

The Commission states that the Member states remain responsible for national authorisation of plant protection products (PPPs) containing glyphosate.  The EU regulatory system sets out a two-step process for the placing of plant protection products (PPP) on the market. Following the approval of active substances at EU level, before any PPP containing them can be placed on the market or used, it must be individually evaluated and authorised in each Member State.

When performing such assessments and before granting authorisations, Member States must take into account the specific conditions set in the approval at EU-level and also their specific national circumstances (e.g., geo-climatic conditions, agricultural production systems, etc.)

Glyphosate has now been fully re-evaluated again, via a rigorous process which took 4 years (between 2019 and 2023), and which considered a significant amount of scientific information.