This week, the European Commission approved a five-year extension for the licence of herbicide glyphosate. Often referred to as a ‘weed-killer’, glyphosate can be considered a common-use pesticide and is used by farmers and agriculturists on many different types of plants and crops to assist growth by killing weeds that would otherwise grow in competition with the plant or crop.
This week, the European Commission approved a five-year extension for the licence of herbicide glyphosate. Often referred to as a ‘weed-killer’, glyphosate can be considered a common-use pesticide and is used by farmers and agriculturists on many different types of plants and crops to assist growth by killing weeds that would otherwise grow in competition with the plant or crop.
The previous licence was due to expire in about a week’s time, but 18 member countries chose to renew its registration for another five years, with 9 countries opposed to this outcome. This approval from the EU has been met with a mixed reaction as many people believe that glyphosate is a harmful chemical and want to see it banned from agricultural and industrial use. Glyphosate is the most widely-used herbicide in human history; its residues can be found in 45% of Europe’s topsoil and environmentalists have claimed that it has negative effects on both plant life and natural habitat.
However, glyphosate has been used by farmers for decades as they believe that its addition is good for both their land and crop yield. Banning its use would also prove expensive for farmers who would have to invest in other resources and chemicals if this were to happen. For these reasons, the debate is sure to resume when the new licence expires in five years’ time.
In light of this recent development, we have chosen glyphosate as the latest IATE Term of the Week.
You can check our entry for glyphosate in IATE below:
We hope you enjoyed this article. Join us next week for another IATE Term of the Week!
Sources
- EXTOXNET (Extension Toxicology Network), Glyphosate. Available here [accessed on 07/12/17].
- The Weekly Times, EU dairy farmers relief over glyphosate registration extension. Available here [accessed on 07/12/17].
- Chemistry World, EU extends glyphosate licence by 5 years. Available here [accessed on 07/12/17].
- The Guardian, Eu on brink of historic decision on pervasice glyphosate weed-killer. Available here [accessed on 07/12/17].
Written by
Liam Kennedy – Schuman Trainee at the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament. Graduate of Journalism with a Language (French) at Dublin Institute of Technology. Completed a Masters in Translation Studies at University College Cork.