The rule, under Proposition 65 guidelines, becomes effective on July 7, 2017. Needless to say, but Monsanto has pledged to fight the ruling. The agri-chem company is not alone in having to deal with the required label changes, according to Reuters.
A number of chemical companies have products containing glyphosate and they are given one year from the effective date of the listing to come into compliance with the rule, either relabeling all their products or removing them from store shelves. Of course, this will depend on if any further legal challenges are lost.
As the Los Angeles Times points out, just because the chemical is listed as being linked to cancer, it does not mean it can’t be in products that are sold in California. This is because Proposition 65 does not set rules on how glyphosate is to be used. It all comes down to being no different than the warning seen on a pack of cigarettes that says quitting smoking greatly reduces your chance of getting cancer.
Despite the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ruling in 2015, that said glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic,” in September 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that glyphosate “probably does not cause cancer, but bowed to lobbyists in October 2016, postponing a final review of the chemical.
“This is not the final step in the process, and it has no bearing on the merits of the case. We will continue to aggressively challenge this improper decision,” Scott Partridge, Monsanto’s vice president of global strategy, said, according to Fortune.
