The chemical glyphosate was given a green light on Monday when a United Nations report found that it was “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet”.
Glyphosate is the key ingredient in the Roundup brand weed killer produced by Monsanto.
The joint study came from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation. The release of the findings took place just two days before a scheduled EU vote on relicensing the product.
Harry van der Wulp, a senior policy officer at the FAO, said the latest analysis was the most comprehensive to date, but probably not the final word on the subject.
“These conclusions relate to exposure through the diet – that is very important,” he said. “It is not a general conclusion because anything beyond the diet was not in our mandate. It remains less clear what the situation is with occupational exposure.”
The use of the Monsanto product has long provoked considerable controversy. Studies conducted by various professional authorities have contradicted each other.
Last year, the WHO’s cancer agency said the herbicide was “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
Environmental campaigners believe there is collateral damage to plants and animals, including the threatened honey bee, caused by blanket spraying of glyphosate on GM crops.
Glyphosate is the most widely used weed killer in the world and Monsanto relies on it for about a third of its total sales. Studies have revealed that nearly all Europeans have significant traces of glyphosate in their bodies.
Portugal’s stance as decided by the current government and explained by the Ministry of Agriculture is "favourable towards the continued use of Roundup having considered all the scientific and technical information available and having analysed all aspects of the problem.
"The government is to prohibit the use of chemicals with the co-formula Polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA) identified as a possible carcinogen and is preparing legislation to ban the use of such herbicides in public and leisure spaces and will take other measures if new scientific data justifies it.
"The government will be discussing this matter in parliament and will respect any decision that parliament adopts."
