EU Scientists Legalize Controversial Herbicide

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Subject:     EU Scientists Legalize Controversial Herbicide
     Date:     Tue, 07 Oct 2003 
    From:     Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

EU Scientists Legalize Controversial Herbicide

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/22459/story.htm
[Please visit the original website to view the whole article.]

BELGIUM: October 6, 2003

BRUSSELS - EU scientists agreed last week to legalize the controversial herbicide paraquat, to the fury of environmentalists who insist the chemical is acutely toxic for both humans and animals....

Paraquat became widely known when it was sprayed on Latin American marijuana fields in the 1970s as a defoliant. It is currently authorized as a weedkiller in 10 EU member states but Friday's ruling makes its use legal across the bloc.

Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Austria - all of which have banned paraquat for many years - voted against the proposal, and were joined by Luxembourg. The Netherlands abstained....

The EU's debate over paraquat has been running for years, with a vote on bloc-wide legalization postponed four times due to bitter differences between the 15 member states....


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

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