The attorneys general from Iowa, Nebraska and nine other states are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to make it clear there’s a national standard for labeling of Roundup and other weed killers that contain glyphosate. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says a new EPA rule is needed because California has proposed cancer warnings on Roundup and other products that contain the world’s most commonly used herbicide.
The EPA has said glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer in humans and in November, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, and said California did not have authority to require a cancer warning on its label. Bird says it’s time for the E-A to set things straight.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers says it’s about protecting the freedom to farm.
Kevin Ross, a farmer from Underwood who’s a former president of the National Corn Growers Association, joined the attorneys general at a news conference Wednesday morning in Omaha. Ross told reporters there is no real substitute for glyphosate.
Monsanto’s attorneys have argued that a warning label on Roundup violates the company’s First Amendment right to be free from compelled speech that it disagrees with. This spring, the Iowa Senate passed a bill to block lawsuits against farm chemical companies based on how the products are labeled, but it stalled in the House. Similar bills were introduced in other states. Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, has settled about 100,000 lawsuits and the company estimates there are more than 50,000 pending.
