Brazilian court drops suspension of glyphosate

A BRAZILIAN court has this week overturned an earlier controversial injunction suspending products containing the popular weed-killer glyphosate.

In overturning the decision Federal Judge Kássio Marques said there was no justification for suspending registrations of active ingredients so abruptly, “without analysing the serious impacts that such a measure will bring to the country’s economy and the population in general”.

The ruling knocks out an earlier decision on August 3 made by substitute judge of the 7th Federal District Court, Luciana Raquel Tolentino de Moura, in which he ruled in favour of a request from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) that all glyphosate-based chemicals could not be registered in the country and existing registrations would be suspended within the next 30 days, until the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) reevaluated their toxicology.

In overturning the earlier injunction, Federal Judge Margues said the products have already obtained approval from all the regulatory authorities, based on studies that have proven not to pose risks to human health and the environment.

He also pointed out that glyphosate, as well as abamectin and thiram which were also included in the original injunction, have been in use for several years.

The 30-day deadline had been due to pass on Monday, just as the first month of soy planting gets under way, Reuters reported.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of soybeans and relies heavily on the agrochemical, with Bayer AG’s Monsanto SA the biggest seller of glyphosate products in the country.

“This ruling is very good news for Brazilian growers, who count on glyphosate-based herbicides to control weeds and grow their crops safely and effectively,” Bayer crop science chief Liam Condon said in a statement.

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Brazilian court drops suspension of glyphosate

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