The banning from public spaces of the weed killer containing controversial substance glyphosate was a move in the right direction but more needed to be done, environmentalists have said.
Last week, Times of Malta reported that the herbicide, considered a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organisation’s cancer agency, will be prohibited from use on Malta’s public roundabouts, central strips, near schools and hospitals and other public areas.
A legal notice amending the regulations on the sustainable use of pesticides is expected to be published shortly.
Friends of the Earth director Martin Galea De Giovanni told Times of Malta that tests carried out by the NGO back in 2013 showed that traces of the weed killer glyphosate were found in nine out of 10 people tested.
“This announcement shows responsibility from government’s side as it chose to listen to the concerns of experts and individuals who have demanded that our fields, streets and gardens should be free from this risky weed killer,“ Mr Galea De Giovanni said.
Findings show glyphosate-based herbicide caused liver disease in rats
Friends of the Earth now hopes the government will take the next step and implement a total ban of glyphosate in Malta since national states have the right to decide on which pesticides can be removed from the market nationally. The move for a ban from public spaces was an initiative of Environment Minister José Herrera, who has long made his position against the chemical public.
The safety of glyphosate in normal environmental conditions has been hotly disputed over the past few years, with a report by the European Food and Safety Agency in 2015 concluding that the chemical was “unlikely” to cause cancer.
A study released last year was the first to show a causal link between glyphosate consumption at a real-world environmental dose and a serious condition: findings showed that the popular glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup caused liver disease in rats.
Between 2016 and 2017 Malta went from supporting the continued use of the controversial chemical to forming part of a group of 10 EU countries seeking a ban across the Union.
Despite opposition from some member states and MEPs, the product’s licence was eventually extended across the EU.
Back in 2017 the government had announced it was in the process of implementing a total ban on glyphosate.
However, shortly afterwards it did a U-turn and said it could not implement a unilateral ban due to European single market rules. The government’s insistence that Malta cannot ban glyphosate has been contradicted by prominent environmentalists, who stress it is member states – and not the EU – that authorise pesticides to be placed on the market.
In Malta, glyphosate is used in agriculture and in limited quantities by the Environmental Landscaping Consortium (ELC) which plants and maintains plants in public spaces.
Figures published by the National Statistics Office show that the chemical is popular with farmers who grow potatoes as well as in fields where vines, fodder, vegetables and orchard fruit are grown.