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Missouri AG: federal labels enough in glyphosate warning fight

Missouri’s Attorney General Catherine Hanaway says federal pesticide warning labels should be enough for state law as lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court weigh disputes tied to glyphosate.

“Look, if there’s an EPA warning that’s prescribed for any herbicide or pesticide, that should be enough in Missouri.”

Monsanto’s Roundup continues to deal with legal challenges due to what some say is a failure to warn users about possible cancer risks.

Bayer says its glyphosate-based products aren’t carcinogenic and don’t cause cancer when used as directed, but lawsuits from people with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma say otherwise.

Hanaway tells Brownfield the current failure to warn legal environment is unfair and contradictory, especially for manufacturers and farmers.

“Juries are awarding verdicts based on the warning the EPA made the manufacturers put on their products,” she says. “Roundup doesn’t have a cancer warning, because the federal government won’t let it have a cancer warning, and yet, they get sued and plaintiffs win because they don’t have a cancer warning. It’s a vicious circle.”

Missouri is one of several states with pending failure to warn legislation, which says if a pesticide is approved by the federal government, it follows cancer warning label rules.

Hanaway says this be a challenge to resolve, but she’s optimistic the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to review the case.

“It isn’t just Roundup and glyphosate, it’s all herbicides and pesticides. Today it’s Roundup, tomorrow it might be something else…we want to take care of this for the long-run.”

Hanaway says it’s unclear if a SCOTUS ruling for failure to warn could override state laws, but a decision should provide clarity for judges across the country.

She’s also interested to see if failure to warn language is included in the next farm bill. Brownfield interviewed Hanaway at the Missouri Pork Expo.