Glyphosate is approved for 5 more years – until December 2025
December 1, 2020
Great Britain’s departure from the EU at the end of 2020 means that glyphosate can be used until December 2025. This is important news for a professional weed control equipment manufacturers like VALE, as well as contractors and local authorities. VALE Engineering supply PKL Quad-Bike mounted spraying systems suitable for kerb-edge spraying and hard surfaces as well as RIVERLYNX CDA systems that provide precise, targeted weed spraying using a hand lance. Both VALE and RIVERLYNX weed control systems are frequently used in conjunction with glyphosate-based products such as Roundup®. Glyphosate is approved for 5 more years…important news!
James Wilson, VALE Engineering MD, comments: “This is great news for our clients. It means that they can invest in the latest weed control equipment, safe in the knowledge that glyphosate – the primary weed control pesticide they want to use – is approved for use for a least five more years. As the UK’s leading supplier of weed control and winter maintenance equipment for the municipal and amenity sectors, we have found that this uncertainty has been holding customers back from placing orders more than any other factor.”
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in most Roundup® brand herbicides and many other widely-used weed control products. Farmers in Europe and around the world rely on glyphosate-based herbicides as safe, cost-effective components of their integrated weed management practices, helping to ensure more productive harvests while preserving the environment. Beyond the farm, glyphosate is key to ensuring the safety of roadsides, railways and utility corridors by controlling invasive or noxious weeds.
The approval of chemical herbicides is carefully managed by the Chemical Regulation Division (CRD), part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). All commercially available chemicals have been subject to rigorous testing and approved for sale by the CRD. As part of the process, chemicals are ecologically and toxicologically tested to a Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) assessment, leading to the development of specific procedures for the use of the chemical so that any risk to the health of humans, animals and the environment is minimised or eliminated. Hard surface weed control must be achieved with spot spraying green weeds. Suitable applicators include ATV mounted units, knapsacks and CDA applicators. The qualified weed control operative needs to be formally trained by a recognised provider such as VALE Engineering.
Although glyphosate is only approved for use in the EU until 15 December 2022, from 1 January 2021 Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) takes responsibility for its own regulatory decisions and rules when the country fully departs the EU. Under the new regime, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains the national regulator for the whole of the UK, via its specialist Chemical Regulation Division (CRD). The Plant Protection Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 states that active substances which were due to expire in the EU within 3 years of the end of the transition period will be granted a 3-year extension under the new GB regime. This means that glyphosate is approved for 5 more years in Great Britain until at least 15 December 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions about Glyphosate
What is Glyphosate?
Glyphosate is the active substance in many herbicides (weed killers) and is widely used around the world. It is a non-selective, systemic herbicide /weedkiller and was first used in the UK in 1976.
Glyphosate is effective in controlling most weed species including perennials and grasses in many situations including amenity, forestry, aquatic and industrial situations. It is used by lots of people from farmers to foresters to gardeners to biologists trying to control invasive exotic plants.
Since it is approved for use in many countries, it has been subject to extensive testing and regulatory assessment in the EU, USA and elsewhere, and by the World Health Organisation.
Has glyphosate been subject to regular regulation checks?
The UK has a rigorous approvals process for pesticides. The main aim of the process is to protect the health of people, creatures and plants and to safeguard the environment.
All companies wishing to obtain approval for their pesticides are required to submit substantial data dossiers to support their applications. The extensive range of studies undertaken on pesticides is aimed at establishing acceptable safety for people, animals and the wider environment. This process has been applied to glyphosate which has been approved as safe and efficacious for a number of years now.
What controls are in place on the use of glyphosate in parks and public spaces?
The risks associated with the use of pesticides in amenity areas such as parks are specifically considered as part of the authorisation process.
Legally enforceable conditions of use are imposed on the way products can be applied, to ensure the public are not exposed to levels of pesticides that would harm health or have unacceptable effects on the environment. It is important that users (or those who cause or permit others to use pesticides) not only comply with the authorised conditions of use but also use products in a responsible and sustainable fashion.
The responsible use of pesticides in amenity areas as part of an integrated programme of control can help deliver substantial benefits for society. These include: management of conservation areas, invasive species and flood risks; access to high quality sporting facilities; and safe public spaces (for example, by preventing weed growth on hard surfaces creating trip hazards), industrial sites and transport infrastructure.
Why does the Government not ban glyphosate?
The Government feels that the regulatory process for authorising plant protection products (PPP) is a robust system. The authorisation process takes into account all scientific knowledge available.
All products which contain glyphosate […] must show that their products are effective, humane and pose no unacceptable risks to people or the environment. If their products were to pose such risks, they would not be authorised; or if such effects were discovered later, they would be withdrawn.
Neither the EU’s assessment of glyphosate as an active substance nor the UK’s assessments of applications for authorisation of products which contain it have found the substance unacceptable for use.
FAQ source: www.hse.gov.uk/pesticides/using-pesticides/general/glyphosate-faqs.htm [accessed 5.11.20]