15 August 2018
CropLife Australia as the national peak industry body for the plant science sector welcomes open and informed discussion on the safety of crop protection products, including glyphosate. CropLife and our members strongly support the robust, rigorous and independent regulatory systems and assessments that these products are subjected to here in Australia. A regulatory system similarly rigorous to that applied to pharmaceuticals.
What is most concerning is the alarmist and significantly misinformed commentary on the safety of glyphosate following a recent San Francisco jury decision. Equal weight appears to be given to views of commentators with clever Twitter handles that have spent no more than two minutes researching the latest social media meme, to that of credible, highly qualified and globally respected medical and toxicological scientists with decades of experience and knowledge on this specific topic.
CropLife encourages all observers and commentators to refer and give primacy to the independent experts on these matters, instead of continuing to inadvertently perpetrate misunderstanding and misinformation and as a consequence escalate community concern unnecessarily. It should be noted that every single independent science based regulatory agency globally has comprehensively evaluated glyphosate and found it safe to use.
The following quotes from experienced, credible, independent, and respected experts are provided below to introduce some perspective and context to this current public discussion:
Paul Pharoah, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Cambridge
Bernard Stewart, Cojoint Professor School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW; Scientific Advisor, Cancer Council Australia
Dr Ian Musgrave, Molecular Pharmacologist/Toxicologist, University of Adelaide
Andrew Bartholomaeus, Consultant toxicologist; Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine University of Queensland; Adjunct Professor Toxicology and Pharmacy, University of Canberra
Statement by Mr Matthew Cossey, Chief Executive Officer of CropLife Australia