*[Enwl-eng] The EU is listening on pesticides
ENWLine
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Next week the European Parliament is voting on legislation that could improve transparency in our food system and stop glyphosate for good! But the lead MEP responsible for the law is promoting amendments that put industry before citizens. Let’s show our representatives that we want to protect food safety, not industry secrets! |
Hi,
Next week, the full European Parliament will vote on legislation that could result in the toxic weedkiller glyphosate becoming banned in the EU, by making previously-secret industry studies available to the public. [1]
During our struggle to ban glyphosate last year, scientific studies were key. The pesticide industry said it had studies demonstrating that glyphosate was "safe” - but kept them secret from citizens and independent scientists alike. The EU allowed the use of glyphosate for another five years - on the basis of these secret industry studies. [2]
Last week Members of the European Parliament's Environment Committee voted on legislation that would end this kind of secrecy. The votes were extremely tight because industry players have been lobbying our MEPs hard to derail the proposal. They want to keep full control over these studies, and to delay their publication until the EU evaluation is done! Now it’s time for the full Parliament to vote: If all of us join the call, we can still tip the scale in safety’s favour.
This is our last chance in the European Parliament, so we’re asking your help to take this campaign all the way to the end. Last week, the WeMove community inundated MEPs with messages demonstrating widespread support for transparency in our food system. From MEP responses and the votes in the Environment Committee, we could see the impact we had together. Now we need a final push to make clear to all MEPs: with European elections right around the corner, MEPs need to protect food safety for citizens, not secrets for multinational corporations.
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The proposed change to the General Food Law regulation is an ambitious departure from the industry-favoured procedures that currently exist in the EU. If this legislation passes, we’ll finally have the tools to challenge the likes of Monsanto – now Bayer – when glyphosate and other dangerous chemicals come up for approval in the EU.
This change didn’t come about by itself - it’s a direct response to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate, which our community worked tirelessly for last year. One of the demands was to “ensure that the scientific evaluation of pesticides for EU regulatory approval is based only on published studies...” [3]
After our huge mobilisation, the EU wants to show that it’s responsive to citizens’ demands on transparency and food safety. But is it really? The Commission has proposed revising the General Food Law, but MEPs also need to vote to support it. [4] However, some MEPs are still swayed by industry. Let’s show them that we are still here, and that we will be watching this vote closely. If they vote for industry and against citizens, we will not forget when it’s time for us to vote in next year’s elections!
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It’s been over two years since our community began a massive EU-wide campaign to stop glyphosate. Since then, we’ve shifted the debate throughout Europe, achieved further restrictions on glyphosate in a number of EU countries, and kept industry on its toes. [5] If we can get this piece of legislation passed, we’ll have far more tools to oppose glyphosate and other dodgy chemicals entering our food chain in the future.
Thank you for being with us at each stage in this struggle,
Mika (Bordeaux), Jörg (Lübeck), Virginia (Madrid), and the rest of us at WeMove.EU
PS: The next decision on glyphosate is coming up fast. If we win this legislation, we can get the EU to publish the safety tests that Monsanto – now Bayer – will submit next year in order to get the EU’s green light for glyphosate. Once we have these tests, we can hire the best independent scientists to analyse them! If we want to stop glyphosate for good, we need to see the studies that industry wants to keep secret. Sign now to tell your MEPs to vote to do just that.
References:
[1]
http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/successful/details/follow-up/2017/000002/en?lg=en
, and:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL:ST_8518_2018_INIT&from=EN
[2]
http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/documents/3496/DS_Annex.pdf
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/civil-society-questions-europes-perfect-pesticide-authorisation-system/
[3]
http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/successful/details/2017/000002?lg=en
[4]
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/new-food-transparency-rules-risk-falling-victim-to-eu-institution-spat/
[5]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20171020IPR86572/meps-demand-glyphosate-phase-out-with-full-ban-by-end-2022
,
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-sets-new-restrictions-on-glyphosate/a-46172338
, and:
https://phys.org/news/2018-09-czech-republic-restrict-glyphosate-weedkiller.html
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