For its fourth newsletter, Justice Pesticides looks back at the last two months of pesticide-related news. The impacts of these toxic chemicals affect every country in the world, and the information in this newsletter covers Spain, the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland and the European Union.

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Summary:

JURISDICTIONAL NEWS

CJEU rejects Bayer’s request to lift bans on its neonicotinoids

The Court of Justice of the European Union rejected Bayer’s appeal to cancel the EU Regulation related to the conditions for approval of three neonicotinoid active substances. According to the Court there is sufficient evidence regarding the harmful effects of these chemicals on pollinators to apply the precautionary principle.

France: 21 anti-glyphosate activists released on grounds of necessity

The correctional court of Foix, in Ariège, decided the release of 21 GMO activists who had painted the labels of hundreds of cans of glyphosate-based herbicides in order to denounce the danger of these products.

France: Authorization of Roundup Pro 360 cancelled by appeal court

The Lyon Administrative Court of Appeal rejected the petitions of Bayer and the French National Food Safety Agency (ANSES) against the decision to cancel the marketing authorization for Roundup Pro 360 and confirmed the manifest error of assessment in the evaluation of the risks of glyphosate, on the basis of the precautionary principle.

Italy: Wine producers loose their appeal against Conegliano’s anti-pesticide referendum

The small town of Conegliano, in northeastern Italy, held a referendum in 2018 on banning all synthetic pesticides in the municipality. Wine producers attacked this referendum, but in its decision of May 20th, 2021, the Italian Council of State rejected the appeal of the producers and supported the legality of the referendum of Conegliano.

USA: Bayer’s $2 billion settlement for Roundup victims rejected by U.S. judge

In the multidistrict Roundup litigation, California federal judge Vince Chhabria roundly rejected Bayer’s proposal for a $2 billion settlement to resolve future Roundup victims’ claims.

United States: Texas grape growers affected by dicamba sue Monsanto and BASF

57 Texas winegrowers took legal action against Monsanto and BASF in Texas state court. According to the Texan winemakers, 95% of their vines have been damaged by the dicamba.

France: a Franco-Vietnamese woman’s complaint against Agent Orange deemed inadmissible

The Evry court ruled inadmissible the complaint of Mrs. Tran To Nga against 14 agrochemical multinationals, accused of having produced the “Agent Orange”.

LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY NEWS

Switzerland: 39% in favor of banning synthetic pesticides in referendum

On June 13th, 2021, the Swiss were called to vote in a referendum on the initiative “For a Switzerland free of synthetic pesticides”, calling for the phase-out of synthetic pesticides by all users. However, the proposal to ban pesticides was rejected by 58% of voters, compared to 39% in favor.

First step in the renewal process of the EU authorization of glyphosate

As part of the authorization renewal process, the four rapporteur Member States in charge of re-evaluating the risks associated with glyphosate (France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden) submitted to the European authorities a report largely in favor of these pesticides.

CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVITIES

Experts propose a historical definition of ecocide

A committee of international experts, chaired by lawyer Philippe Sands (United Kingdom), and former United Nations prosecutor Dior Fall Sow (Senegal), proposed a definition of the crime of ecocide on June 22th, 2021. This crime should become the fifth crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

New damning report from PAN Europe on EFSA’s failure to regulate pesticides!

Our partner PAN-EU released its latest report EFSA: Science or Ideology. It examines the authorization process of 12 allegedly genotoxic pesticides assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) since 2006. It reveals that EFSA ignored recognized cancer risks and circumvented the 2009 regulation to give the green light to these 12 pesticides.

Spain: New report by Ecologistas en Acción: Directly into your hormones. Guide to disruptive foods

The Spanish confederation Ecologistas en Acción, partner of Justice Pesticides, launched in early May the new edition of its report. It makes the alarming observation that the level of exposure of the Spanish population to pesticide residues in food is far too high. Spain was in fact the leader in pesticide sales in Europe in 2019.