A Mexican judge has sided with Bayer AG in a legal challenge over a government policy that seeks to ban glyphosate, the company told Reuters on Wednesday, in a temporary reprieve from a looming ban on the widely-used herbicide.
Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and crop science company that acquired Monsanto in 2018, is one of the world’s leading makers of glyphosate as part of its Roundup brand weed-killer.
In a statement to Reuters the company noted the legal case is ongoing and that a definitive resolution must still be issued.
Reuters has not seen a copy of the decision, which is not public. The office of Judge Francisco Rebolledo did not answer calls seeking comment.
While regulators worldwide have determined glyphosate to be safe, Bayer agreed in June to settle nearly 100,000 U.S. lawsuits for $9.6 billion, while denying claims that Roundup caused cancer. In February, it struck a $2 billion settlement to resolve future legal claims that Roundup causes cancer.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador issued a decree late last year that seeks to completely ban the herbicide by 2024, joining several other governments that have sought to restrict its use, including Germany. He has described the chemical as toxic.
“Glyphosate is safe and hundreds of scientific studies support that,” the company said in the statement to Reuters, adding that it has been used safely for more than 40 years in Mexico.
Mexico’s Reforma newspaper reported on Wednesday that Judge Rebolledo based his ruling on the risk the ban would harm farm production and food security.
If made permanent, the ruling could exempt Bayer’s glyphosate permits, which were filed as Monsanto, from the decree.
The spokesman for Mexico’s president did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Kirsten Donovan)
