EU member states will meet again today to decide if glyphosate’s expiring EU license can be renewed.

YOU don’t have to be a member of Greenpeace to understand that chemicals thought of as game-changers when introduced — DDT or Thalidomide say — might, in the fullness of time, be viewed differently. The law of unintended consequences applies to chemicals in a very forceful way.

The Department of Agriculture had decided to halt use of glyphosate on food crops pending review, in line with Brussels. Why the change of heart, asks Caroline O’Doherty.

Glyphosate is the world’s most ubiquitous herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp.

The approvals process for the widely used but controversial herbicide glyphosate has hit another stumbling block en route to its possible re-authorisation in June.

EU Commission plans to renew the licence for the glyphosate weed killer for another 15 years faced a new challenge last week, with MEPs delaying the process.