Glyphosate

Glyphosate is a chemical widely used in herbicide products to control weeds that compete with cultivated crops, vegetation and plants in agriculture, forestry and horticulture.

Glyphosate is also commonly used in the maintenance of railway lines.

The substance is a non-selective herbicide that kills weeds and grasses by blocking a plant enzyme A protein which stimulates or hastens a specific reaction in the body; for example, digestive enzymes help to break down food into nutrients essential for growth.

It is one of the most used and most extensively studied herbicides in the world. 

Glyphosate-based products contain the active substance glyphosate and co-formulants, and may also contain other chemicals that improve how those products work.

Glyphosate is currently approved as an active substance in the EU until 15 December 2033 and its use is subject to certain conditions and restrictions.

The use of glyphosate in plant protection products is subject to each product being authorised by national authorities following a safety evaluation.

Application for renewal

In 2019, a group of companies, known as the Glyphosate Renewal Group (GRG), formally applied to renew the approval of glyphosate for use in view of the previous approval expiring at the end of 2022.

This application initiated the renewal process as provided for by EU legislation.

The European Commission appointed four Member States – France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden – to act as joint rapporteurs and to carry out the initial assessment. This group was called the Assessment Group on Glyphosate (AGG).

They assessed the application and submitted their renewal assessment report (RAR) to EFSA and the respective Harmonised Classification and Labelling (CLH) report to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

In parallel with the EFSA-led assessment, ECHA reviewed the classification of glyphosate under the EU’s Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation.

ECHA assessed the hazardous properties of glyphosate, not considering the likelihood of exposure Concentration or amount of a particular substance that is taken in by an individual, population or ecosystem in a specific frequency over a certain amount of time to the substance. Exposure is considered as part of the risk assessment A specialised field of applied science that involves reviewing scientific data and studies in order to evaluate risks associated with certain hazards. It involves four steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation process led by EFSA.

The final opinion of ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC), published in July 2022, was used as the basis for EFSA's risk assessment.

The European Commission decided in November 2023 on the renewal of the approval of glyphosate.

A step-by-step account of the renewal process can be found on the website of the European Commission.

Published information

The RAR was published for public consultation on EFSA’s website, and EFSA’s final conclusions and all background documents were published at the end of the peer review.

These documents include:

• a record of all comments provided by Member States, the GRG, EFSA and members of the public on the RAR (comments from the public were published immediately after the public consultation closed)
• a record of how the EU experts addressed the comments, including how the GRG and AGG reacted to the comments received
• reports from all the expert consultations held with Member State scientists
• comments received from Member States on the AGG assessment of any additional information submitted by the GRG
• comments received from the AGG and Member States on EFSA’s draft conclusion

External experts

The peer review of pesticide Substance used to kill or control pests, including disease-carrying organisms and undesirable insects, animals and plants active substances is conducted by EFSA staff and by experts employed by public authorities in Member States.

Experts from Member States can contribute to the process in several ways. They can:

• submit written comments on behalf of their Member State to the peer review of the draft assessment report
• take part in expert consultations (meetings and teleconferences) organised by EFSA on different scientific areas (e.g. mammalian toxicology and ecotoxicology The study of the adverse impacts of substances, particularly chemicals, in relation to the environment and public health)
• submit comments on EFSA’s draft conclusion

The declarations of interests (DoIs) of these experts are checked by EFSA and made publicly available.

EFSA can also invite other external experts to take part in expert consultations, if deemed necessary.

These experts are invited to contribute based on their scientific expertise. They do not represent any Member State authority and attend meetings in a personal capacity.

External experts are required to submit a DoI that is assessed and validated in the same way that EFSA assesses DoIs for other external experts (e.g. those taking part in scientific panels or working group meetings).

Further information on EFSA’s Independence Policy is available here.

Latest

On 10 December 2025, EFSA and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will host representatives from the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, at EFSA’s premises to discuss the findings of the Global Glyphosate Study (2025). The meeting is an opportunity for an open exchange on the methodology and findings of the study ahead of EFSA's and ECHA's respective assessments of its findings. 

On 30 June 2025, the European Commission requested ECHA and EFSA to evaluate new data on carcinogenic effects of glyphosate in the Global Glyphosate Study (2025).

Roles of EFSA and ECHA

EFSA and ECHA play two different but complementary roles in the assessment of active substances used in pesticides, also known as plant protection products.

ECHA is responsible for the hazard A substance or activity which has the potential to cause adverse effects to living organisms or environments assessment of a given substance, while EFSA assesses the risks that being exposed to a certain substance might pose. ECHA’s hazard assessment part of a risk assessment that involves identifying and characterising potential hazards associated with biological, chemical and physical agents that may be present in food complements EFSA’s risk assessment. 

EFSA and ECHA synchronised their work plans to carry out their assessments of glyphosate in parallel.

The two agencies used the same draft assessment report produced by the Assessment Group on Glyphosate (AGG) as the starting point for their assessments and carried out simultaneous public consultations.

Interested parties were able to provide comments to EFSA and to ECHA separately.

More information on the renewal of approval of active substances used in pesticides and the peer review process in the EU is available here.

Under EU legislation, pesticide active substances in plant protection products (PPPs) are approved in the EU only if it may be expected that their use will not have any harmful effects on human and animal health or the environment.

The European Commission decides whether to approve or renew an active substance. EU Member States assess or reassess the safety of pesticides containing the active substances that are sold on their territory.