Popular weedkiller doesn't cause cancer: EU agency

The EU's chemicals agency said Wednesday that glyphosate, one of the world's most widely used weedkillers, should not be classed as a carcinogen. 

The assessment paves the way for Brussels to make a final decision on the chemical, despite deep divisions in the 28-member European Union over its use.

Glyphosate is used in the best-selling herbicide Roundup, produced by the US agro-chemicals giant Monsanto.

"Glyphosate should not be classified as carcinogenic," Jack de Bruijn, director of the risk assessment committee of the European Chemicals Agency, said at a news conference. De Bruijn said the weedkiller had not been found to cause genetic or reproductive defects, a finding based on "extensive evaluation of all the information that was available for this substance".

In July 2016, EU member states approved an 18-month extension of an approval for glyphosate pending the agency's report, but limited its use. Among member states, France and Malta opposed re-approving the chemical, while Germany was one of seven countries to abstain on the issue.

The European Commission has been waiting for the agency's assessment to make a final decision on approving glyphosate for general use. The commission said that it "takes note" of Wednesday's announcement, and that a decision is expected by the end of this year.