The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have received a draft assessment of glyphosate by four EU Member States and are now beginning to consider the findings.

Glyphosate

• ● The most widely used herbicide in the world
• ● Is currently authorized for use in the EU until December 2022

The evidence submitted by the companies seeking renewed approval to market the substance in the EU has been examined by the Assessment Group of Glyphosate (AGG). The AGG’s draft report runs to around 11,000 pages.

Assessment Group of Glyphosate

• ● National authorities of France
• ● Hungary
• ● The Netherlands and Sweden

ECHA and EFSA will now arrange parallel consultations on the draft report. These will be open to the public and will launch in the first week of September this year. The first and foremost step involved in the assessments is consultation. Under the Classification, Labelling, and Packaging (CLP) Regulation, ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) will review the classification of glyphosate and it is purely based on the hazardous properties of a substance not the likelihood of exposure to the substance.

Note: Exposure is considered as part of the risk assessment process led by EFSA

Glyphosate currently has a compatible classification as

• ● causing serious eye damage
• ● toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects

Also noted that it has no classification for

• ● for germ cell mutagenicity
• ● carcinogenicity or reproductive toxicity

The current proposal from the four Member States does not foresee a change to the existing classification.

Once ECHA accepts its opinion on glyphosate classification, the EFSA, which is expected in late 2022, will finalize its peer review and release its results. The European Commission will decide whether or not to renew glyphosate based on this risk assessment

Reference: https://echa.europa.eu/-/glyphosate-eu-regulators-begin-review-of-renewal-assessments?utm_source=echa-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly&utm_content=20210616