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Brazil Court Overturns Ban on Weed-killer Glyphosate


FILE - A can of glyphosate weedkiller is seen in front of a tractor with a pulverizer system as French farmer Herve Fouassier is interviewed by Reuters in Ouzouer-sous-Bellegarde, France, Nov. 30, 2017.
FILE - A can of glyphosate weedkiller is seen in front of a tractor with a pulverizer system as French farmer Herve Fouassier is interviewed by Reuters in Ouzouer-sous-Bellegarde, France, Nov. 30, 2017.

A Brazilian court on Monday overturned an injunction banning products containing the popular weed-killer glyphosate, knocking down a previous ruling that had promised to up-end the soy planting season set to begin this month.

Last month a Brazilian judge ruled to halt the registration of new glyphosate-based products in the country and to suspend existing registrations after 30 days, until health agency Anvisa issues a pending ruling on its safety.

That 30-day deadline had been expected to pass on Monday, just as the first month of soy planting gets under way.

FILE - Soybeans are harvested at a farm in Porto Nacional, Tocantins state, Brazil, March 24, 2018.
FILE - Soybeans are harvested at a farm in Porto Nacional, Tocantins state, Brazil, March 24, 2018.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans and relies heavily on the agrochemical, with Bayer AG's Monsanto SA being the biggest seller of glyphosate products in the country.

Bayer, Monsanto and a Brazilian pesticide industry group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hundreds of lawsuits alleging Monsanto's glyphosate products cause cancer are making their way through U.S. courts. Bayer and Monsanto say decades of use and numerous reviews of glyphosate show the chemical to be safe.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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