Iowa Ag Connection - Coalition Takes Action Against California's Prop 65 Herbicide List

Iowa Ag News Headlines

Coalition Takes Action Against California's Prop 65 Herbicide List
Iowa Ag Connection - 11/16/2017

Monsanto is joining a broad coalition of agriculture groups from across the country to challenge the constitutionality of California's unjustified listing of the herbicide glyphosate as a substance "known to the state of California to cause cancer" under Proposition 65 (Prop 65). This case was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Because of California's unjustified listing of glyphosate in July 2017, manufacturers of products containing glyphosate, or products with even trace residues of glyphosate, sold in California could be required to affix a false and misleading warning label to their products starting in 2018. This labeling requirement would not only impact Monsanto and its Roundup-branded products, but also other glyphosate-based herbicides produced by other companies, the crops grown by U.S. farmers who use the herbicide, and food products derived from those crops. The consequences of this labeling requirement could be significant, including higher production and compliance costs that translate into higher prices for consumers at the grocery store.

"Monsanto is pleased to stand today with leading farmer organizations from across the nation to challenge the constitutionality of California's unjustified and harmful Proposition 65 listing of glyphosate," said Scott Partridge, Monsanto's vice president of global strategy. "Glyphosate is a safe, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective tool for farmers. This labeling requirement would do nothing more than compel false warnings about a safe product and unnecessarily increase food prices for consumers."

Leading the farmers' coalition are the National Association of Wheat Growers, the National Corn Growers Association, Associated Industries of Missouri, Iowa Soybean Association, Agribusiness Association of Iowa, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Missouri Farm Bureau, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, South Dakota Agri-Business Association and the United States Durum Growers Association and Western Plant Health Association.

Kirk Leeds, Iowa Soybean Association CEO, said in a statement:

"The Iowa Soybean Association board of directors unanimously approved joining as a co-plaintiff in the legal challenge to California's Proposition 65 and the listing of glyphosate as a carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) arbitrary determination that glyphosate negatively impacts consumers and food producers sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the continued availability of other valuable food production tools.

"The unreasonable listing by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment of glyphosate as a carcinogen as compelled by Prop 65 violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because it compels the plaintiffs in the case to make false, misleading and highly controversial statements about their products. Should labeling proceed, the ripple effect could mean environmental concerns, increased production costs -- to be passed along to the consumer -- and a threat to the viability of the state and country's soybean crop given intensified weed pressures. This could be a devastating blow to Iowa soybean farmers and an industry valued at more than $5 billion.

"Glyphosate is one of the safest herbicides ever developed and has been rigorously tested by the U.S. government for decades, continually passing as non-carcinogenic. The determination by IARC, a France-based, non-scientific organization, that glyphosate is 'probably carcinogenic' counters the conclusion of every global regulator that has examined the issue over the past 40 years. Not only does the scientific community disagree with IARC's findings, the organization's internal process for reviewing glyphosate -- along with other 'possible' or 'probable carcinogens' like French fries and coffee -- has also been roundly criticized.

"The Iowa Soybean Association is proud to join other plaintiffs, including the Agribusiness Association of Iowa, in defending farmers, science and a safe and abundant food supply."

In July 2017, California added glyphosate to the Prop 65 list, stating that the substance is "known to the state of California to cause cancer." In taking this unjustified action, California ignored its own regulatory agency's scientific conclusions, as well as safety assessments conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), European regulators, and every other regulatory body in the world -- all of which have concluded that glyphosate is safe for use and not carcinogenic. This was reinforced just last week when the largest epidemiological study ever conducted on glyphosate and farmers published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, concluding there is no link between glyphosate and any form of cancer.

California's unjustified listing was based solely on a highly controversial and deeply flawed 2015 opinion by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Recent investigations have shown that IARC members concealed and manipulated data that would have undermined IARC's opinion. IARC's flawed opinion and non-transparent process have come under investigation by the U.S. Congress.

Listing glyphosate under Prop 65 violates the First Amendment, which protects individuals and businesses from compelled false speech. Under the unjustified Prop 65 listing, glyphosate manufacturers and distributors, agricultural producers and food companies could be compelled to label their products with a warning known to them and to the scientific community to be false. Compelling such warnings that are not "purely factual and uncontroversial" cannot be justified under First Amendment case law.

Other Iowa Headlines