Thousands submit on proposed increase in glyphosate weedkiller allowed on some crops

• The Ministry for Primary Industries is proposing substantially increasing the amount of glyphosate allowed on some crops.
• The agrichemical is classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organisation.
• Greenpeace is condemning the move and says the ministry is already failing to test for the chemical.
• MPI says there is no connection between the proposal and the possible liberalisation of genetic engineering laws which could see Roundup-resistant crops planted in NZ.

The government is proposing increasing the amount of a controversial, likely cancer-causing herbicide allowed on food by 100-fold.

That is despite environmental group Greenpeace saying current testing is already lacking.

The Ministry for Primary Industries is proposing increasing the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) - the maximum legal level for residues of agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines in food - for a number of substances including glyphosate, the active ingredient in weedkillers like Roundup.

An MPI spokesperson said more than 3100 submissions on the proposal had been received by the closing date last Friday.

Long controversial, the human health impacts of glyphosate are disputed. In 2015, the World Health Organisation deemed glyphosate a probable carcinogen and found strong evidence for genotoxicity, or the ability to damage DNA.

The government was proposing increasing the MRL from 0.1 milligrams per kilogram for wheat, barley and oat grains to 10 milligrams per kilogram, and 6 milligrams per kilogram for peas.

Greenpeace said the proposal was dangerous and out of step with other countries.

There were also serious issues with the testing regime which gave little confidence the proposal was grounded in science, Greenpeace said.

New Zealand Food Safety conducted annual monitoring of agrichemical residues in plant-based foods under the Food Residues Survey Programme (FRSP).

Testing from about a decade ago, found a third of wheat samples had glyphosate levels exceeding the limit allowed, some by 50 times.

In the 2016 report, MPI said "none of the wheat samples posed any food safety risks".

Since then, Food Safety had not tested for glyphosate despite more than 500 other agrichemicals being tested for in the survey programme.

The report also stated the ministry was "now proposing a review of the residues information for glyphosate". A decade on, the review is finally under way.

Greenpeace campaigner Genevieve Toop said it appeared the ministry had simply stopped testing for glyphosate when it found samples breaching the limit.

"MPI knew ten years ago that the food New Zealanders was eating was breaching the permissible limit for glyphosate on food. But rather than do anything about it, they just stopped looking," Toop said.

The proposed new limit for wheat was twice what Canada and Australia allowed, Toop said.

The proposed changes would increase the amount of glyphosate residue allowed in wheat by one hundred times the current limit.

The government had given "no meaningful justification" for lifting the limit, and the proposal was "part of a pattern by the government of disregard for human health, while prioritising corporate profits", Toop said.

"This isn't a chemical that belongs in our paddocks or on our plates, and we certainly should not be allowing the government to allow the residue limits on the food we eat everyday."

But submissions showed some saw the timing - as a bill to liberalise gene technology restrictions was working its way through parliament - as auspicious.

The majority of genetically modified-crops used globally were Roundup Ready - resistant to glyphosate - which allowed growers to use more of the herbicide without affecting their harvest.

A 2017 US study found human exposure to glyphosate increased 500 percent after the introduction of Roundup Ready crops.

But New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said the proposed changes were "not, in any way, connected with the GMO Bill".

The proposal was the first time a full evidence-based review and setting of a Maximum Residue Level for glyphosate had been undertaken in New Zealand, he said.

The proposed new levels were similar to, or below, the voluntary glyphosate limit set by international food standards body Codex, Arbuckle said.

Food Safety monitored residues in food grown for sale in New Zealand "to provide confidence good agricultural practice is being followed", and conducted "periodic testing", he said.

A spokesperson later confirmed the most recent testing for glyphosate residue was in fact in 2015.

Arbuckle said there was nothing untoward in the lack of glyphosate testing since 2015, but it was those results - 20 of 60 wheat samples were found to have breached the limit - that led to the proposed increase.

"None of these detections were a food safety concern, but did indicate that the agreed instructions for use were not enabling farmers to use these products with confidence for weed control and comply with the MRL. To rectify this situation we are proposing the MRLs for these crops are changed," he said.

"The sampling programme for each year is carefully targeted to focus on the products and agricultural compounds of most interest."

The use and risk assessment of glyphosate had "not changed significantly since the last targeted survey was done and did not warrant prioritising it above other products in subsequent sampling programmes," Arbuckle said.

Reports from overseas agencies such as the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation, the European Food Safety Authority and the United States Environmental Protection Agency were used to inform that decision, Arbuckle said.

"Growers in New Zealand use glyphosate products as weed control, so it is not sprayed directly on wheat or other crops as this would kill the crop the farmer is growing," he said.

The use of Roundup Ready crops overseas meant glyphosate residue levels were "substantially higher than we could conceivably see in crops grown in New Zealand".

Green MP Steve Abel said the proposed rise in residue levels coincides with the "radical liberalistion" of genetic engineering law in New Zealand.

He was concerned the new proposed levels were laying the groundwork for future Roundup Ready crops in New Zealand.

"We know from overseas evidence that means a big increase in the use of Roundup. It also leads to super weeds [that developed Roundup resistance] and to greater residues on food crops," he said.

The proposed approach was not about safety, Abel said.

"It seems the focus is orientated on the convenience of the chemicals' use rather than the protection of human health," he said.

"The thinking is around the wrong way - the first consideration should be human health and the protection of the environment."

There was no way higher maximum residue levels were better for the heath of farmers, farm workers spraying the chemical or the public consuming it, Abel said.

In its submission on the proposed increase, Organics New Zealand noted the European Union's Farm to Fork Strategy - part of the European Green Deal - had set legally binding targets to reduce pesticide use by 50 percent and aimed to phase out the most harmful substances by 2030.

The strategy included a forthcoming ban on the importation of food products containing residues of banned pesticides, which included glyphosate in some contexts.

Organics New Zealand said the EU had 195 chemicals on its banned list, compared to New Zealand's 27, and the regulatory gap risked jeopardising exports.

Meanwhile, a judicial review of the Environmental Protection Authority's refusal to conduct a full risk assessment of glyphosate would be heard in the High Court next month at the Environmental Law Initiative's request.

Glyphosate was first registered as a poison in New Zealand in 1975, but a comprehensive risk assessment in a New Zealand context had never been undertaken, the initiative said.

The permitted daily exposure (PDE) limit for food was set by the Environmental Risk Management Authority - the Environmental Protection Authority's predecessor - in 2004.

University of Canterbury research in 2017 found a link between the use of the chemical and increased antibiotic resistance.

A 2017 US Centre for Disease Control study found four-fifths of the population had glyphosate in their urine, which rose to 87 percent for those under 19 years old.

However, the US Environmental Protection Agency found in 2020 glyphosate was not likely to be carcinogenic to humans, although a 2022 a federal appeals court rejected that, forcing the agency to withdraw the finding while further testing was conducted.

In 2021, Japan blocked shipments of New Zealand honey after more stringent testing found traces of glyphosate exceeding its standard of 0.01 milligrams per kilogram.

In recent years, Bayer - which acquired the manufacturing rights of Roundup when it purchased Monsanto in 2018 - had paid billions of dollars to settle cases over potential links to cancer, with another 67,000 cases pending.

In 2023, Bayer announced it would no longer produce or sell glyphosate-based Roundup products for residential use in the United States, but said that was to prevent further court action, not because of safety concerns.

In the same year, the European Union approved its use for another decade, after member states deadlocked for a second time on the issue. While no European countries have banned glyphosate completely, some, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany have partial bans in place. Multiple challenges to the decision are before the European Court of Justice.

Other studies have linked glyphosate to neuro-degenerative illnesses.

In Feburary, a Canadian federal court judge ordered the government to reassess its 2022 approval of a glyphosate-containing product on the basis Health Canada failed to show it considered new scientific evidence identifying new or elevated risk.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported Bayer was considering filing for bankruptcy for its Monsanto agriculture business should its settlement plan fail.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.