Austria is about to become the first EU country to completely ban weed killer glyphosate, which was originally developed by Monsanto before it was bought out by Bayer, and sold under the name Roundup.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of World Health Organisation has classified Glyphosate as 'probably carcinogenic to humans' and continues to defend their position against increasing legal attacks by the producer of the weed killer which is also digested by humans via breakfast cereals such as Quaker Oats and Kellogg’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran oat cereal. Both popular in the USA.
Austria’s lower house in their parliament have raised the possibility of there being an EU-wide ban on a substance which has resulted in huge litigation against the original developers of the carcinogen, with the latest court case resulting in Bayer who now owns Monsanto, ordered to pay $US 2billion to an aged couple who have contracted cancer as a result of using the toxic herbicide. The scientific evidence of the plant poison's carcinogenic effect is increasing," the assembly's top social democrat, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, said in a statement.
"It is our responsibility to ban this poison from our environment," she added.
Glyphosate was originally developed by chemical giant Monsanto, a US company that became a subsidiary of Germany's Bayer last year. The herbicide first appeared on the market under the name of Roundup in 1974.
The patent for it has since expired and various companies now produce glyphosate-based weed killers under different names.
As per usual, the American/German company uses false science and their sponsored research results to argue that science proves there is no link between Glyphosate and cancer in humans. Exactly the same tactics used of 50 odd years by the tobacco industry in denying that smoking tobacco causes cancer, and now also by climate change deniers.
Until this decision by Austria’s lower house, no EU country has dared to challenge Bayer’s agrochemical juggernaut with a full ban. But in the face of mounting evidence of glyphosate’s links to cancer and other illnesses, Austria finally laid down the law, setting a precedent for other nations to follow.
However, the EU Commission which was bombarded by Monsanto lobbyists to ensure they did not themselves ban the carcinogen Roundup, ruled glyphosate legal in Europe until 2022 and could still strike down Austria’s ban, which Bayer is already preparing to force the Commission to do.
In 2017, hundreds of thousands of members of the public across all EU member states, joined forces across Europe to call for an end to glyphosate -- and succeeded, despite all of Bayer’s lobbying might, in getting the weed killer’s license cut to five years, from a planned 10 years.
In the USA, Bayer is being weakened by lawsuit after lawsuit from cancer patients sickened by the toxic chemical. Its investors are even revolting against CEO Werner Baumann over his decision to acquire Monsanto and its weed killer in the first place; precisely because of the scientific evidence supporting a ban and of course because of the the threat to their income from shares dividends in the company.
Unless thousands of people across Europe, once again put pressure on the EU to respect Austria’s decision, the chances of a ban on Glyphosate and Roundup continuing will be shattered.
People must convince the EU Commission to ignore Bayer’s pleading and leave the Austrian Government to their own responsibility to protect their citizens from harm.
Pressure group Sum of Us have launched a petition supporting the Austrian ban on Glyphosate.
Source: Deutsche Wella / SumofUs /
