Chemical company Bayer will remove glyphosate from the herbicide Roundup for consumer use in the United States. Glyphosate will also be replaced by another substance in other Bayer products on store shelves. However, American agriculture will still be able to purchase chemical pesticides containing glyphosate.
In a statement published on Thursday, Bayer announced that it “would discuss the future of glyphosate-based products on the U.S. residential market. This will not affect the availability of glyphosate-based products on markets for professional and agricultural users,” the company added.
Sales of glyphosate to American consumers, mainly under the Roundup brand, account for €300 million of Bayer’s annual revenue, less than 2 percent of the total turnover of the crop science division.
Liam Condon, head of the Bayer division, said the company expects hardly any financial consequences. Bayer will retain the Roundup brand name and continue to sell it, but only change the composition of the active ingredients, he added.
The announcement follows a recent ruling by a U.S. judge in one of the many lawsuits filed against the company. The court on Wednesday rejected Bayer’s previously proposed plan as “clearly unreasonable.” Investment analysts said the rejection was a “significant setback for Bayer.”
Chemical company Bayer has set aside 4.5 billion dollars for future legal disputes over the glyphosate-containing herbicide Roundup. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said that Bayer is now looking at “alternative solutions to manage potential future claims.” In the first three months of this year, Bayer has already paid out approximately 2.2 billion euros to settle disputes.
The glyphosate-containing product Roundup has been the target of criticism from environmental activists for years. The company emphasizes that the discontinuation of sales is not based on safety or health criteria, but to reduce the likelihood of new lawsuits.
Bayer also refers to the recent advice from four EU countries, including the Netherlands, regarding whether or not to extend authorization for glyphosate use in agriculture. After a comprehensive scientific study, this AGG group concluded, among other things, that no chronic or acute consumer risk is expected, and that glyphosate meets the approval criteria for human health.