France's glyphosate exit to be 80 percent complete by 2021, says minister

 Didier Guillaume, French Minister of Agriculture and Food

PARIS (Reuters) - France expects to have cut the use of weedkiller glyphosate by 80 percent by early 2021, its agriculture minister said on Friday, less than previously anticipated due to the number of farmers who will qualify for an exemption.

In November 2017, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to ban glyphosate in France within three years, rejecting a European Union decision to extend its use for five years after a heated debate over whether the weedkiller, developed by Bayer-owned Monsanto, can cause cancer.

The proposed ban caused outcry among farmers who rely on glyphosate heavily and quickly became a prickly issue for the president. Within months of announcing the ban, Macron recognized that 10 percent of farmers would need an exemption.

Read more