Abstract
Glyphosate, precautionary Principle, approval procedure, pesticides, European Union, International Agency for the Research on Cancer IARC, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertug BfR, European Food Safety Authority EFSA, Regulation (EU) 1107/2009, Regulation (EC) 1272/2008.
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Since 1970 when Monsanto the US chemical company filed their patent for the original Roundup herbicide, it has been a wholesale success all over the world. During the past year more than 720,000 tonnes were used worldwide, more than any other herbicide. 6000 tonnes ended up on fields in Germany—for weed control in grain and corn cultivation as well as in vineyards and orchards. To make matters worse, the Germany Railway system uses the herbicide to clear undesirable plants from their tracks (see article July 15, 2015). http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article144015187/Wie-gefaehrlich-ist-C3H8NO5P-wirklich.html. http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/6561010-global-glyphosate-market-is-expected-to-reach-usd-8-79-billion-by-2019-transparency-market-research.
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junge welt 1/06/2016/Topic/p. 12. Profitable Herbicide: Worldwide Glyphosate is used more and more. The authorities seem unconcerned that experts have announced that the herbicide is »probably carcinogenic “Peter Clausing”. Glyphosate plays a threefold key role: First the chemical is extremely significant for herbicide producers—in Germany alone 40 per cent of Monsanto’s sales are due to the sale of herbicides containing Glyphosate. https://www.jungewelt.de/2016/01-16/054.php?sstr=glyphosat.
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During the 2011 business year Monsanto turned over 11.8 billion US $, a net gain of 1.6 billion US-$. The Agricultural Productivity division produces herbicides for agriculture, industry, public maintenance, homes and gardens and accounted for 27% of turnover. The best known product of this division is the broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto.
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Marshall, E. (1983) “The murky world of toxicity testing”, Science. 220 (4602): 1130 – 1132. doi:10.1126/science.6857237, PMID 6857237; Schneider, Keith, “IBT – Guilty” Winter 1983. Amicus Journal. Planetwaves.net; Schneider, Keith “Faking it: The Case against Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories”, Amicus Journal, Spring 1983; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_legal_cases#Roundup.
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EPA FY1994 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Accomplishments Report (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craven_Laboratories.
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Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC; http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02009R1107-20140630&qid=1475740883425&from=EN.
Plant protection products may only be authorised if: “industry demonstrates that substances or products produced or placed on the market do not have any harmful effect on human or animal health or any unacceptable effects on the environment”. (Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC und 91/414/EEC, recital 8). “The provisions governing authorisation must ensure a high standard of protection. In particular, when granting authorisations of plant protection products, the objective of protecting human and animal health and the environment should take priority over the objective of improving plant production”. (Regulation (EU) No 1107/2009, recital 24).
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Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (Text with EEA relevance), 3.6. Carcinogenity; http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1475741055994&uri=CELEX:02008R1272-20160401.
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Case Nr: Staatsanwaltschaft Wien 32 St 17/16z.
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Case Nr: Staatsanwaltschaft Düsseldorf 10 UJs 1993/16.
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http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Monsanto-v-AGNYnov96.htm; Attorney General of the State of New York. Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau. Environmental Protection Bureau. 1996. In the matter of Monsanto Company, respondent. Assurance of discontinuance pursuant to executive law 63(15). New York, NY, Nov. False Advertising by Monsanto Regarding the Safety of Roundup Herbicide (Glyphosate).
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Unterweger, J. (2017). Ethics and Pesticides: The Precautionary Principle as Illustrated by Glyphosate. In: Westra, L., Gray, J., Gottwald, FT. (eds) The Role of Integrity in the Governance of the Commons. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54392-5_15
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