Colleagues,
Here is a response from the Codex Secretary on the glyphosate question.
Cheers,
Nadia
From: Massey, David (AGDC)
Sent: 01 September 2015 17:49
To: Scialabba, Nadia (NRC)
Cc: Leclercq, Catherine (ESN); Murray, William (AGPM); Heilandt, Tom (AGDC); Hielm, Sebastian (AGDC); Yang, YongZhen (AGPM)
Subject: Codex information on Glyphosate
Dear Nadia
The Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt asked me to provide this information on Glyphosate in response to the exchange in this email thread which was passed on to us.
It is intended only for internal info sharing (although almost all the info is actually currently publicly available on the WHO and JMPR web pages).
Kind regards
David
David Massey
Consultant
Codex Secretariat
Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme
Glyphosate is the world’s most used herbicide and a common weed killer in agriculture and home gardening. Its most common commercial name is Roundup (a Monsanto brand).
In March 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group of experts classified Glyphosate in Group 2A (probable human carcinogens) with strong evidence for a genotoxic mechanism of carcinogenicity.
The Joint WHO/FAO Expert Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), which is responsible for assessing the risk of pesticide residues in
Food, originally evaluated Glyphosate in 2004. JMPR did not find evidence for carcinogenicity in humans and assigned an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). On that basis, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has established Maximum Residue Limits for Glyphosate in a large number of food crops (2006-2014).
The WHO Core Assessment Group on Pesticides has now created an ad hoc expert taskforce (June 2015) to compare the March 2015 IARC publication with those of JMPR as well as any other data not considered by either body. This review will establish the need or otherwise to update the JMPR assessments and therefore the guidance to Codex.
WHO has also underlined in its communication to Member States and the general public the important difference between hazard classification performed by IARC and risk assessment carried out by JMPR. An online Q&A was posted in July on the WHO website (http://who.int/features/qa/87/en / ).
The expert taskforce is expected to report back to the next JMPR meeting which begins on September 15th 2015.
-----Original Message-----
From: Heilandt, Tom (AGDC)
Sent: 25 August 2015 13:30
To: Massey, David (AGDC)
Subject: FW: Info: Avaaz Petition - FAO Get Glyphosate off our Food
________________________________________
From: Murray, William (AGPM)
Sent: 25 August 2015 10:09
To: Yang, YongZhen (AGPM); Heilandt, Tom (AGDC)
Subject: FW: Info: Avaaz Petition - FAO Get Glyphosate off our Food
For your information
From: Leclercq, Catherine (ESN)
Sent: 25 August 2015 08:58
To: Scialabba, Nadia (NRC); [log in to unmask]; Campanhola, Clayton (AGPM); Murray, William (AGPM); Frick, Martin (NRC); vanderWulp, Harry (AGPM); Nowell, Dave (AGDI); Mekouar, Ali (ESN)
Subject: RE: Info: Avaaz Petition - FAO Get Glyphosate off our Food
Dear Nadia,
As reported in the petition it is the FAO/WHO Committee called JMPR (Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues) which evaluates the safety of pesticides. Based on the evaluations of this Committee CODEX sets Maximum Residue Limits.
As you can see on WHO website, due to the recent evaluation of glyphosate by IARC, JMPR will now reevaluate glyphosate:
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/chemical-risks/jmpr/en/
Here are the terms of reference of the WHO expert task force
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/chemical-risks/etc_final_new_1.pdf?ua=1
It is not clear to me why it is only a WHO task force and not a FAO/WHO task force since JMPR is a FAO/WHO Committee.
Kind regards
Catherine
_________________________________________________________________
Catherine Leclercq, PhD
Nutrition Officer
Nutrition Assessment & Scientific Advice Group (ESNA) Nutrition Division (ESN) Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Viale Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome
Italy
tel: +39-06-570-53920
Email: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Skype: catherine.leclercq
From: Scialabba, Nadia (NRC)
Sent: 25 August 2015 08:44
To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; Campanhola, Clayton (AGPM); Murray, William (AGPM); Frick, Martin (NRC); vanderWulp, Harry (AGPM); Nowell, Dave (AGDI); Leclercq, Catherine (ESN); Mekouar, Ali (ESN)
Subject: Info: Avaaz Petition - FAO Get Glyphosate off our Food
Have you seen that? https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/FAO_Director_General_Graziano_Da_Silva_Get_Glyphosate_Off_Our_Food/?pv=3
What is FAO or Codex position on glyphosates?
Nadia
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