Austria a Step Away From Banning Glyphosate

December 19, 2017December 10, 2018GMO

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Austria is one step closer to banning glyphosate at the national level.

The Austrian People’s Party and the Freedom Party of Austria have both announced that they are seeking a national ban on the active ingredient in the world’s most ubiquitous herbicides. This is significant because the two parties are about to form a new government in Austria.

Sebastian Kurz, the future Austrian Chancellor, has stated that he wants to phase out glyphosate of the entire country.

Environmental organizations are praising the move as Kurz has also stated that he wants to orient Austria to France and Italy which also is witnessing a movement to ban glyphosate at the national level.

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At the state level, Carinthia and Tyrol are looking at banning the herbicide.

Minister of Agriculture, Christian Benger, has said, “We have found a way to ban glyphosate in Carinthia. The agricultural department has formulated an appropriate regulation under the plant protection Act.”

Benger says that he can formulate this regulation only for agricultural uses but that the district administrator would have to sign regulations banning glyphosate for non-agricultural uses, which actually constitutes about 85% of the chemicals used in Carinthia.

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Benger does expect that the District Administrator will sign the regulation. DA Ralf Holub also supports banning glyphosate, stating, “The time of deaf ears in this important cause seems to be over.”

In Tyrol, the OVP-Green Coalition is pushing for a ban although the sector is 95% glyphosate-free. Josef Geisler, head of Agriculture in the state is supportive of the ban, but argues for a transition period to phase glyphosate out of the agricultural system.