Glyphosate ban in Europe? 'Avaaz' Petition.

The internet-based environmental campaigning organisation 'Avaaz' has launched a petition directed at the EU Commission, aimed at banning the pesticide 'Glyphosate' in common use here and abroad. In Britain its more common name is 'Roundup' and is aggressively marketed by its manufacturer Monsanto. The following (excluding the references in brackets below) is a direct lift of the Avaaz post. To date it has apparently attracted over a million signatures world-wide. To add your own, go to https://secure.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_against_glyphosate/?copy

(See also: http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/poisoning-earth-countricide-tim-veater.html

http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/human-health-implications-of-glyphosate.html)

"In 48 hours, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) could approve a herbicide that the World Health Organisation announced probably causes cancer! 

"The risk is huge, and a leaked report found European regulators have based their assessment mainly on unpublished regulatory studies provided by the chemical companies producing glyphosate!

"Use the form on the right to send an urgent message to the Commission to demand glyphosate is suspended until a full independent assessment has been done. 

"Here are the facts and some talking points to use in your letter, but remember the more personal the message the better:

• The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) study found glyphosate a “probable carcinogen”. It was carried out by 17 world-class independent experts looking at multiple published peer-reviewed studies over a year.
• The EFSA peer review of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) found “there is no carcinogenic risk related to the intended herbicidal uses”. It was largely based on unpublished regulatory studies provided by the chemical companies producing glyphosate.

"I call on you to:

• Exercise the precautionary principle and immediately suspend glyphosate to protect the public from exposure to harm. The Commission has this obligation in the absence of scientific consensus.
• Task the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to carry out a thorough assessment and delay the EFSA review until the ECHA classification can be incorporated.
• Ensure that the EFSA peer review is transparent, based on independent studies, and evaluated by independent researchers without conflicts of interest.
• Over 1.4 million people are calling on you to ensure the European public is not exposed until glyphosate can be proven safe.

Open letter to the European Commissioner.