MEPs at the European Parliament have voted to ban glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.

At a sitting of the plenary on Tuesday, MEPs voted against renewing the approval of the active substance glyphosate.

There was 355 votes in favour of banning glyphosate, 204 against it and 111 abstentions.

Member States are to vote on Wednesday on its reauthorisation. They have the final say in deciding whether herbicides containing glyphosate will remain on the shelves at the end of this year.

The majority of MEPs voted to oppose a 10-year extension to the renewal of the herbicide, called for restrictions on its use from 2018 and called for a full ban by 2022.

Environment committee

Last week, the Environment Committee of the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution urging the European Commission to "phase out" the leading herbicide active in the next three years.

This led to the resolution being put to a plenary vote of the European Parliament on Tuesday.

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