Brazilian Prosecutors File to Ban Glyphosate Nationwide
Federal prosecutors in Brazil submitted a court request to prohibit the sale and use of glyphosate across the country. Brazil consumes roughly 200,000 tonnes of the herbicide per year, making it the world's largest user, and the case could reshape how the country manages pest control in its vast soy and corn belts.
Brazilian federal prosecutors filed a formal legal request asking courts to ban the sale and use of glyphosate throughout Brazil. The prosecutors based their case on the International Agency for Research on Cancer's 2015 classification of glyphosate as a Group 2A substance — "probably carcinogenic to humans" — and cited the precedent set by more than ten billion dollars in US court settlements paid by Bayer over Roundup-linked cancer claims.
Brazil uses approximately 200,000 tonnes of glyphosate per year, far more than any other country in absolute terms. The herbicide is integral to no-till production systems across the country's soy, corn, and sugarcane sectors. A successful ban would force a significant and rapid change in weed management across tens of millions of hectares, for which viable alternatives at comparable cost and scale do not currently exist.
Bayer contests the carcinogenicity findings, noting that regulatory agencies in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere have consistently concluded that glyphosate poses no unacceptable risk to human health when used as directed. Brazil's own agricultural regulator, ANVISA, reviewed the substance and did not recommend a ban, though it tightened label requirements. The prosecutors' case is proceeding through federal court and a ruling could take years.