States unite to petition EPA to enact uniform glyphosate labeling requirements

In California, glyphosate is listed as a carcinogen under Prop 65

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Eleven states are sending a united message to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking it to enact national uniform glyphosate labeling requirements.

"One State should not be able to impose its ideologically-driven views on essential farming products on the rest of the country,” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in an Aug. 7 statement

“If adopted, our proposed rule would streamline the labeling process, dispel consumer confusion, and ensure that those who help put food on our tables can do their jobs without getting caught up in the red tape of 50 separate States.”

He, along with the attorneys general of Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, the Dakotas and South Carolina are involved with this issue and sent a petition to the EPA on Aug. 7

Currently, state law dictates how product manufacturers label some goods.

In California, for example, Proposition 65, which passed in November 1986, requires warning labels on products with harmful chemicals.

In that state, glyphosate is listed as a possible carcinogen.

This despite EPA research finding “that there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label.”

The EPA must act swiftly to ensure labels on glyphosate products are in line with scientific findings.

“If EPA does not act quickly to clarify its primacy over labeling, Petitioners and industry will be left to address state-imposed labeling obligations that differ from EPA’s long-held scientific findings in an area of law where Congress intended EPA to have the final word,” the petition says.

The involved states want the EPA to issue the proposed rule for public comment within 90 days of the petition’s submission.