UK-EU Trade Negotiations May Align Glyphosate Regulations as Licence Nears Expiry

Officials from the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are negotiating with EU counterparts on a new trade agreement aimed at making trade with the bloc easier, cheaper and more predictable, a move that could lead to restrictions on the use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant on food crops.

The Soil Association, the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Greenpeace, the Wildlife Trusts and others sent an open letter to Defra on Wednesday stating that phasing out glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant, in line with restrictions across the EU, would alleviate concerns over public health and nature while facilitating closer trade with European neighbors.

The use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant on cereal and pulse crops has been banned in Europe since 2023.

Glyphosate is a full-spectrum herbicide that kills almost every plant it touches and is often sprayed on wheat, oats and other cereal and pulse crops immediately before harvest to desiccate them and make them easier to handle. The World Health Organization classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans in 2015.

Glyphosate has been at the center of more than 17,000 lawsuits in the US alleging it causes cancer and other health problems.

A group of experts concluded in March that glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides cause genetic damage, oxidative stress and hormonal disruption. The experts stated that regulatory agencies in countries around the world should treat glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides as hazardous, as some countries have started to do.

Cathy Cliff, the Soil Association’s campaigns coordinator, said experts are increasingly warning that there is no safe dose of glyphosate, meaning the chemical should be removed from food, and evidence of harms linked to glyphosate has rocketed over the last decade, calling on the government to respond.

Forty-one percent of UK cereal crops tested between 2016 and 2023 contained glyphosate residues. In 2024, 28% of samples of UK bread tested contained glyphosate. 6% of fruit and vegetables sold in the EU contained pesticide residues.

Defra did not comment on the talks with the EU when asked by The Guardian on Tuesday. British farmers and businesses have been told to expect changes to pesticides and their respective maximum residue levels and changes to pesticide and biocide active substance approvals. The UK licence for glyphosate expires in November.

The Glyphosate Renewal Group, a coalition including Bayer, Syngenta, Nufarm and others, has made a number of submissions to officials at the Health and Safety Executive, the agency responsible for licensing pesticides. The Glyphosate Renewal Group has lobbied for exceptions to the SPS agreement that would allow for continued use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant.

A survey commissioned by the organic food retailer Riverford of 2,000 adults found that 79% had never heard of glyphosate, 83% were concerned about long-term exposure to chemical residues in food, and 66% were outraged that glyphosate was used in the UK food system.