Glyphosate's Approval Validity Period to Be Extended by Another 10 Years!

Glyphosate's Approval Validity Period to Be Extended by Another 10 Years!

On November 16, 2023, the Arbitration Committee meeting on the glyphosate re - assessment resolution was held as scheduled. Member states voted again on the draft glyphosate re - assessment, yet the qualified majority of votes required for approval or rejection was still not reached. In accordance with relevant EU legislation, when no valid outcome is obtained from the vote at the Arbitration Committee meeting, the European Commission (EC) is obligated to make a decision prior to the expiry of the current approval period of the active substance (December 15, 2023).

Therefore, based on the safety assessment results jointly conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and EU member states, the European Commission (EC) has finally decided to extend the approval period of glyphosate by 10 years.

As the European Commission (EC) has decided to adopt the draft glyphosate re - assessment, it is basically confirmed that glyphosine, formic acid and triethylamine will be added as relevant impurities. Among them, the limit requirement for the relevant impurity glyphosine is extremely low, and this newly added requirement may have a significant impact on the technical glyphosate produced via the glycine process.

The latest EU reference source specifications for glyphosate are as follows:

Active Substance

Glyphosate ≥ 950 g/kg

Relevant Impurities

1. N - nitroso - glyphosate (NNG) < 1 mg/kg

2. Formaldehyde < 1 g/kg

3. Triethylamine ≤ 2 g/kg

4. Formic acid ≤ 4 g/kg

5. N,N - bis(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosine) ≤ 3 g/kg

In the meantime, the EU has also set certain conditions for the use of glyphosate, such as prohibiting it from being used as a desiccant prior to crop harvesting and taking necessary protective measures for non - target organisms. In addition, the European Commission mentioned in its statement that since member states are responsible for the national authorization of plant protection products containing glyphosate, they may continue to restrict its use at national and regional levels if they deem it necessary based on the results of risk assessments, especially taking into account the need to protect biodiversity.