Ireland will vote in favour of renewing the licence for glyphosate. Friday 13 October sees the crunch meeting, where the 27 EU member state representatives on the phytopharmaceuticals sub-committee of the Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed will decide the fate of the only universal herbicide available to farmers.

Glyphosate is a controversial subject, and last year it was decided to rollover the existing licence, which was due to expire on 31 December 2022, for a 12-month period. This was to allow the European Food Safety Authority to complete its assessment and deliver a recommendation.

It returned the view that it had failed to identify “critical areas of concern”, and the European Commission had recommended a renewal.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, a spokesperson for Minister Charlie McConalogue confirmed his intention to instruct that Ireland vote for renewal.

“The Minister will follow the advice of the European Commission, given on foot of the comprehensive report completed by the European Food Safety Authority, and vote to extend the use of glyphosate in farming for another 10 years.”