It is "the beginning of a war", Nicolas Hulot, then Minister of the Ecological Transition, launched a few hours after the historic conviction of Monsanto by the Californian justice, in August 2018. Six months later, it is in simple observer that the ecologist attended one of his battles: Tuesday, the administrative court of Lyon decided to cancel the marketing authorization of Roundup Pro 360, a weedkiller product containing glyphosate and marketed by the agrochemical giant, which is undergoing a new setback. Especially since the decision has already taken effect. In other words, the sale, distribution and use of this herbicide is now prohibited.
A first in France
It is indeed the first time in France that justice cancels a marketing authorization (AMM) based on the famous "precautionary principle". The court thus considered that the National Agency for Food Safety, Environment and Labor (ANSES) had "made an error of assessment with regard to the precautionary principle", by authorizing this product on 6 March 2017.
Based in particular on the work of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on glyphosate, the administrative judges found that Roundup Pro 360 "is a potentially carcinogenic to humans, suspected to be toxic to humans. human and aquatic reproduction "and the use of which" adversely affects the environment which may seriously affect human health ". More than glyphosate alone, it is therefore the composition of the product, that is to say the interaction between the active ingredient and its adjuvants, which is questioned here.
To defend itself, ANSES had argued that it was "strictly identical" to that of Typhoon, a herbicide marketed by the Adama group and authorized in France since 1996. An argument swept aside by the court, which ruled that the carcinogenic character of Typhoon had "not been studied" in the opinion of the health authority.
A decision that could affect other Roundups
So, why the Roundup Pro 360 rather than another? Simply because it is the last to have received a marketing authorization (MA). The Independent Research and Information Committee on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN) had indeed two months to seize justice to demand the withdrawal of this product, used in particular on vegetable crops, fruit and vine. What she did in May 2017. A random choice, then. "But there is no difference between the Roundups," says Europe 1 lawyer CRIIGEN, Me Corinne Lepage.
" We come to the end of a system: now, to put others on the market seems very difficult "The former Minister of the Environment (1995-1997) welcomed a "highly motivated" and "absolutely major" (...) judgment, considering that all products containing glyphosate are probably carcinogenic ". According to the lawyer, "we come to the end of a system: now, to put others on the market seems very difficult," she says. CRIIGEN, in particular helped in its fight by France Nature Environment (FNE), also intends to request the re-evaluation of some 190 products containing glyphosate currently sold in the country.
Europe-Ecology-The Greens has already brought such an action before the administrative court, calling for emergency review of the dangerousness of glyphosate by ANSES.
The role of ANSES in question
Since 1 July 2015, the Agency has already proceeded for reasons of safety to the withdrawal of 132 marketing authorizations for glyphosate products. On November 30th, it also indicated that nearly 70 new products were the subject of a marketing authorization application.
In concrete terms, the study of each dossier includes a traditional first step, evaluating the toxicity of the product (absence of "unacceptable risks" - doses and safety thresholds defined at European level - for the manipulators, the local residents, the environment...). France has committed to get out of glyphosate by 2021, ANSES finally see if for each use there is a non-chemical alternative or biocontrol.
" I think the French have accounts to ask ANSES ""ANSES has made a lot of progress but the major problem lies in the current organization," however denounces Corinne Lepage. In France, the same body is in charge of both evaluating and giving the go-ahead. "It's not acceptable," says the lawyer. "Risk assessment and risk management is not the same thing."
"In the documents on which ANSES is based, some are just the copy-pasted Monsanto's arguments", accuses for its part Cécile Claveirole, pilot of the agriculture network within FNE, in reference to the plagiarism committed by the German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment at the time of the renewal of the authorization of the herbicide in 2017. "I think that the French have accounts to ask ANSES," slip this agricultural engineer by trade.
The decision of the Administrative Court of Lyon could motivate the various actors in the sector to reflect on the role of health agencies, some of which are accused of working hand in hand with lobbies. Glyphosate, and through it Roundup, is still the subject of conflicting scientific studies as to its carcinogenic character. In November 2017, the conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) led the EU to renew its approval for five years.