France, Hungary the Netherlands and Sweden will jointly carry out the next assessment of glyphosate
EU Member States have agreed that France, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Sweden will be jointly responsible for the next evaluation of the active substance glyphosate used in plant protection products.
Approvals for active substances used in plant protection products shall, according to the legislation, be reviewed periodically. Normally, the evaluation of such an application is made by a single Member State which is appointed as Rapporteur Member State (RMS). Due to the extensive documentation for glyphosate, the European Commission has proposed that a group of Member States jointly should act as RMS for the next evaluation of the substance.
This proposal from the European Commission has now been supported by the EU Member States in a vote in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF). At the same time, the Standing Committee voted in favour of amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 844/2012 to allow such an approach. The competent authorities in France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden have all agreed to be part of the rapporteur group, called "The Assessment Group on Glyphosate (AGG)".
The upcoming review of glyphosate in the EU starts on 15 December 2019, when interested applicant(s) must submit an application for renewed approval. The complete documentation to be assessed should be submitted by the applicant(s) within the subsequent six months. By June 2021, the AGG will present a draft renewal assessment report to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The report will then be reviewed by other Member States and will be made publicly available for comments by stakeholders. Based on the peer review and overall data, EFSA will adopt a conclusion on whether glyphosate can still be expected to meet the approval criteria set out in the EU Plant Protection Products Regulation. Finally, the European Commission will prepare a decision whether or not the approval of glyphosate should be renewed, which will be submitted to a vote in the SCoPAFF.
A decision on the renewal or non-renewal of approval for glyphosate should be made no later than December 2022, when the current approval period for glyphosate expires.
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The Swedish Chemicals Agency’s press service, +46 8 519 41 200, press@kemi.se
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