French Assembly rejects glyphosate ban for second time
The National Assembly has rejected a move to legally ban the herbicide glyphosate completely, for the second time this year.
The new vote, on Saturday September 15, means that the controversial herbicide - which has been linked to health conditions including cancer, and eye issues - will not be legally banned in France within the next three years.
This is despite continued support of a legal ban by 2021 from President Emmanuel Macron.
The minister for agriculture, St茅phane Travert, is against such a ban - and was against it earlier this year too.
Mr Travert has questioned the government鈥檚 鈥渕ethod鈥�, suggesting that instead of a ban on the current herbicide, there should be further research on eco-friendly solutions.
The MP is not against a total ban forever, but has argued that it should be postponed until better alternatives are available.
: 鈥淭he position of France is now known. We would like to be present in three years...to respond to the President鈥檚 objective, and that of the wider population.鈥�
Earlier in the year, many MPs had unsuccessfully demanded that a ban on glyphosate be enshrined in law.
This motion had been supported by former ecology minister, Nicolas Hulot, with many MPs on the left asking that the government give a 鈥渟trong signal鈥� on the subject.
This time, amendments to the motion had been brought by MPs including Fran莽ois-Michel Lambert (Bouches-du-Rh么ne) of La R茅publique en Marche (LRM). His amendment to the bill was rejected 42 votes to 35.
Another LRM MP, Jean-Baptiste Moreau, banning glyphosate 鈥渨ould not achieve anything鈥�.
The motion will come back into the chamber for debate on September 25.
Glyphosate - often known commercially under its most common brand name 鈥淩oundup by Monsanto鈥� - has come in for global criticism in recent years.
In August, US company Monsanto was ordered to pay $289 million (鈧�253 million) to a gardener who was ruled to have contracted incurable cancer due to using glyphosate over many years.
Similarly, over five million people in France have downloaded an app named 鈥淵uka鈥�, which allows users to search for different foods, and offers information not only on calories, sugar, protein and fibre levels; but also the presence of potentially-damaging additives, herbicides and pesticides.
