Brazilian prosecutors want to ban glyphosate

Prosecutors in Brazil have filed a lawsuit against the regulator Anvisa and the federal government demanding a ban on the use of glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide and the key active ingredient in Roundup. Bloomberg reports.

What the prosecutors are demanding

According to Bloomberg, the lawsuit was filed by a special structure of the prosecutor’s office that protects labor rights. It asks the court to prohibit the registration of drugs based on glyphosate and its derivatives, as well as to prohibit the production, export, import, sale and use of this active ingredient.

The prosecutor’s argument is “risks to human life, occupational health and the working environment.”

What Anvisa and Bayer are responding to

Anvisa said that in 2020 it had already reassessed the risks of glyphosate and then maintained its registration in Brazil with certain restrictions.

Bayer insists that regulators around the world have repeatedly concluded that glyphosate can be used safely and is not carcinogenic. The company said it was confident that “the scientific facts will prevail in the proceedings.”

Why it matters

Bloomberg emphasizes that the cancellation of glyphosate registration in Brazil would be a blow to Bayer and other chemical companies. After the expiration of patent protection in 2000, this active ingredient began to be used in many formulations by various manufacturers.

This is a particularly sensitive issue for Brazil: glyphosate is widely used in large field crops. Monsanto launched GM soybeans resistant to glyphosate back in 1996, and later this technology spread to corn, cotton and rapeseed.

What is happening in the US and the EU

The Brazilian case is superimposed on a legal war in the US. There, Bayer has been sued many times over Roundup: plaintiffs claim that the use of glyphosate preparations could have caused cancer. According to Bloomberg, Bayer’s provisions and liabilities for glyphosate litigation totaled $11.3 billion as of the end of 2025.

In the EU, the fight is largely over regulatory approval, not massive compensation claims. The European Commission extended glyphosate’s approval for another 10 years in 2023, but environmental groups are challenging that decision in the EU Court of Justice.

Tags: Brazil, herbicides, Glyphosate, restrictions