The call came after a vote to reauthorise glyphosate for five years at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) failed to achieve the qualified majority necessary for the proposal to be adopted.
Guy Smith, NFU Vice President, said: “Once again we are left in a situation where no decision has been made on the reauthorisation of glyphosate – one of the safest plant protection products on the market which secures so much environmental benefit in terms of better soils and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
“Allowing Member States to continue playing politics over this decision despite overwhelming science and evidence showing glyphosate’s safety does nothing but undermine the credibility of the EU’s regulatory bodies and the entire regulatory process.
“We ask the Commission to stand by its own science and regulatory procedure, and re-authorise glyphosate for the maximum period possible. It cannot stand by and allow the issue to be politicised any longer.”