Vietnam Bans Imports of Glyphosate-Based Pesticides

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced on April 10 the removal of glyphosate from the list of authorized products in the country.

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Vietnam already declared on March 17 that the government would ban the importation of all products that could contain glyphosate. This decision followed the condemnation by a federal jury in San Francisco of Monsanto, whose Roundup was recognized as a "substantial factor" in causing the cancer of Edwin Hardeman, a Californian man.

Over a few years, Vietnam has engaged a court battle so that the agrochemicals giant compensate the victims of Agent Orange, an ultra-potent and very harmful toxic defoliant marketed by the U.S. group and used by the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1971, during the Vietnam War.

According to the Vietnamese association which defends the victims, more than three million Vietnamese are still affected today by the consequences of this chemical product.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Thursday criticized Vietnam's move to ban imports of glyphosate-based herbicides, saying the decision would have "devastating impacts on global agricultural production."

Perdue added the U.S. government had shared scientific studies with Vietnam concluding that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans.

However, glyphosate has been classified as a "probable carcinogen" since 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said in a statement posted on the department's website that long-term exposure to herbicides and pesticides affects the environment and is severely unhealthy for those exposed.

Sri Lanka was a precursor and prohibited glyphosate use in 2015 but partially reversed its decision in 2018.