Vote on glyphosate ban delayed

EU countries have failed on to vote on a licence extension for the weedkiller glyphosate.

It’s an ingredient in the company Monsanto’s top-selling product, Roundup, which came under fire after the World Health Organization’s cancer agency found in 2015 that it was a substance that probably causes
cancer. But the European Chemical Agency later concluded that there was no evidence of a link.

Weedkillers containing glyphosate have been in use for more than 40 years. Many farmers fear a ban would put them at a competitive disadvantage or not being able to grow some crops at all.

But campaign group Greenpeace, have questioned the methodology of the studies which concluded glyphosate was safe and says there are other farming methods, including crop rotation, to reduce weeds.