The deadline for comments on the EU’s planned re-approval of glyphosate is 11 May.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched its public consultation on the assessment report on glyphosate submitted by the "rapporteur" Member State, Germany.

Germany’s report has been submitted for the EU review of glyphosate in time for the planned re-approval of the pesticide in 2015.

The deadline for submissions is 11 May 2014. Comments are to be limited to the risk assessment presented in Germany’s assessment report, and submitted using the available template for electronic provision of comments.

http://dar.efsa.europa.eu/dar-web/consultation

Germany’s draft report claims that no toxic effects on fertility, reproduction or foetal development in laboratory animals are revealed in the industry’s glyphosate studies and recommends a rise in the acceptable daily intake, from 0.3 to 0.5 mg per kg of bodyweight per day!

However, there is no verifiable evidence for these claims, since the industry studies and raw data have not been revealed. The German government holds the industry data on glyphosate and will not release it to concerned members of the public or scientists.

In order to be eligible to comment in the consultation and to access Germany’s report (it’s very long!), you have to register here:

http://dar.efsa.europa.eu/dar-web/consultation

It will be especially valuable for groups and organisations to take part in this consultation.

We recommend that groups outside the EU as well as inside it take part in this consultation - they are eligible to do so. Regulatory agencies worldwide have coordinated their re-approvals of glyphosate to come in 2015, so non-EU agencies will be watching Germany and the EU to see what they do, and will no doubt follow.

This consultation is a good opportunity to point out that glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup have NEVER been toxicologically tested in long-term animal studies. What is tested and assessed by regulators is the isolated "active" ingredient glyphosate. That was true in the last EU approval in 2002 and it is still true today.

The same principle holds true for all pesticides.

Unfortunately, however, studies both in vitro (test tube) and in vivo (animals) show that pesticide formulations are generally more toxic than the isolated ‘active’ ingredient, e.g.:

- Mesnage R et al (2014). Major pesticides are more toxic to human cells than their declared active principles. BioMed Research International, 26 Feb. doi: 10.1155/2014/179691 [in vitro]

- Adam A et al (1997). The oral and intratracheal toxicities of ROUNDUP and its components to rats. Vet Hum Toxicol 39(3):147-51. [in vivo]

So regulatory approvals of Roundup worldwide are based on no relevant long-term safety data at all.