Private users will soon no longer be allowed to use the glyphosate

Private users will soon no longer be allowed to use the controversial weed killer glyphosate in their own gardens. As a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture announced, the glyphosate ban for home and garden use is expected to come into force at the end of July, but no later than August. The so-called Plant Protection Application Ordinance regulates the prohibitions. The new regulation provides for glyphosate to be restricted in several areas. In addition to the private context, use on playgrounds and sports fields as well as in parks should also be prohibited. Glyphosate should also be banned in water protection areas and before harvest. The use of the product will only be permitted in exceptional cases on arable land and grassland. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, this includes combating certain weeds and using them on areas at risk of erosion that cannot be mechanically processed. With the partial ban, the federal government is implementing a corresponding requirement of the European Union. After weeks of coalition disputes and conflicts with farmers, the ordinance passed the Federal Council at the end of June. The federal cabinet finally approved it last week. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, it will come into force one day after its announcement. A national total ban on the use of glyphosate is not possible under European law, as the active ingredient in pesticides is still approved throughout the EU until the end of 2022. As the ministry further announced, plant protection products containing glyphosate are permitted throughout the EU until December 31, 2023 with a transition period. As things stand, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner does not assume that there will be a majority in favor of an extension of glyphosate approval at EU level by then. The developer and manufacturer of glyphosate is the Monsanto group, which was acquired by the chemical and pharmaceutical group Bayer in 2018. The glyphosate-containing crop protection product Roundup is at the center of numerous lawsuits in the USA. The main question here is whether the agent has a carcinogenic effect - Bayer always emphasizes that the agent is safe when used properly. The group refers to the corresponding assessment by, among others, the US environmental authority EPA and also the supervisory authorities in the EU and Germany. The International Agency for Cancer Research, which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), stated in 2015 that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic in humans".