EU trade deal could force UK to restrict use of weedkiller linked to cancer

A new trade deal with the EU could lead to restrictions on the use of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate on UK food crops. The full-spectrum herbicide, which kills almost every plant it touches, is often sprayed on wheat, oats and other cereal and pulse crops immediately before harvest to desiccate them and make them easier to handle. That practice has been banned in Europe since 2023 over fears of the chemical’s impact on human health. Now a wide-ranging new trade agreement with the EU could force the UK to fall into line. Officials from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are negotiating with their EU counterparts over the terms of a that is intended to make trade with the bloc “easier, cheaper and more predictable”. Environmental groups say the government should use the opportunity to end the pre-harvest use of glyphosate. “Phasing out glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant, in line with restrictions across the EU, would alleviate concerns over public health and nature, while facilitating closer trade with our European neighbours,” said the Soil Association, the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Greenpeace, the Wildlife Trusts and others in an open letter to Defra on Wednesday. The World Health Organization classified glyphosate as “ probably carcinogenic to humans ” in 2015, and it has been at the centre of more than 17,000 lawsuits in the US alleging it causes cancer and other health problems. …