Proposition 54K2856

Proposition de résolution visant à mettre en oeuvre une stratégie concertée de suppression du glyphosate.

General information ¶

Authors

PS | SP Jean-Marc Delizée, Daniel Senesael, Fabienne Winckel

Submission date

Dec. 19, 2017

Official page

Visit

Status

Rejected

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

health risk toxic substance resolution of parliament public health

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

CD&V ∉ Open Vld N-VA MR PP VB

Voted to reject

Groen Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP PVDA | PTB

Party dissidents ¶

• Olivier Maingain (MR) voted to reject.
• Meyrem Almaci (Groen) abstained from voting.

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

March 15, 2018 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

I refer to the written report. Depending on what Mr. Senesael will say, I will add one element.

Last November, the European Commission renewed the license for glyphosate for another five years. This decision has shocked many scientists and health and environmental NGOs. It is also a blow to the more than one million people who have signed the European petition calling for the ban of glyphosate.

Many people are right to be concerned. In May 2015, the International Centre for Research on Cancer (IARC) - the specialized agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) - classified glyphosate as a likely carcinogen. I also recall the revelations of Monsanto Papers, confidential documents revealing manipulation of scientific data in order to present glyphosate as harmless to human health.

Faced with this danger to our population, the PS group calls on the government to put in place a strategy to eliminate glyphosate and to help farmers find alternatives to protect their crops. When I presented this proposal in the Health Committee, I thought I would get the support of the majority, because our prohibition proposal goes quite in the same direction as the statements made by Minister Ducarme on the TV platforms. With this project, the PS group simply asks Minister Ducarme to move from speech to action.

I was really surprised and disappointed that the majority refused to fulfill the promises of Minister Ducarme. I find it shameful that Minister Ducarme makes beautiful promises on TV channels, and that when it comes to voting a text to implement them, we discover that in fact the government has no intention to really ban glyphosate that threatens the health of our population.

As politicians, it is our duty to protect the public when there are serious doubts about the dangers of a substance. This is called the precautionary principle. We need to stop the dangerous pesticides that end up in our dishes and threaten our health. Dear colleagues, I ask that you too go from speech to action, and protect the public by voting for our proposal to ban glyphosate.

I will be brief because the discussion was also held in the committee.

In this resolution, there were five requests to the government. Application No. 5 was withdrawn by Mr. Senesael. Request No. 1 concerns collaboration with the Regions, but this collaboration already exists. Application No. 2 requires active collaboration with the Member States of the European Union, but this is already underway. The request No. 3 concerns the consultation with the agricultural sector, which also follows its course. Finally, request No. 4 concerns the prohibition of the sale of glyphosate to individuals for non-professional uses. This proposal is currently being developed. There was therefore no reason to move forward with regard to this resolution, since the minister in charge has the elements in hand.