GRAINGROWERS has reaffirmed its support for the ongoing safe use of glyphosate by Australian growers after the Vietnam Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development's announcement that it is banning glyphosate usage.
On April 10 the Plant Protection Division of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced a ban on the import and use of glyphosate-based herbicides.
Glyphosate imports and production will not be permitted after 60 days.
All glyphosate use will not be permitted 14 months from now - one year after imports and production are prohibited.
GrainGrowers said glyphosate was vital to farming systems around the world and instrumental in the provision of reliable, high-quality and safe food supplies.
The national organisation said it was unaware of any other country where a glyphosate usage ban was in place.
Glyphosate is one of the world's most widely used and rigorously tested chemicals.
Regulatory authorities in the European Union, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States have publicly reaffirmed within the past three years that glyphosate is safe to use in accordance with label instructions.
Registered for use in Australia for more than 40 years, GrainGrowers said glyphosate was a critical tool for controlling noxious weeds, maintaining soil health and improving water use efficiencies for growers.
It said national regulator, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), continued to advise that all glyphosate products, like all pesticides approved and registered for use in Australia, have been subject to a robust chemical risk assessment process and are safe to use in accordance with label instructions.
The APVMA's most recent scientific assessment of the human health risks associated with the use of glyphosate was conducted in 2016.
GrainGrowers said this review reaffirmed the ongoing safe use of glyphosate in Australia.
GrainGrowers said the Vietnam Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development's decision didn't affect Australian growers' ability to use glyphosate.
CropLife Australia chief executive officer Matthew Cossey said the Vietnamese government decision to ban the use of glyphosate-based herbicide products went against all independent scientific evidence and was unacceptable for Vietnamese farmers, the Australian agricultural sector and global trade.
"This decision is without a genuine foundation in fact and is entirely unacceptable, not only for Vietnamese farmers but for Australia's farming sector and more broadly for global agricultural trade," Mr Cossey said.
"The legitimacy of the process for the decision is also questionable.
"There were no consultations with their own nation's farmers and larger agricultural sector, no discussions with national or global experts and no new scientific data to support taking this ridiculous decision.
"Vietnam's own Technical Advisory Committee has twice confirmed that there is no scientific justification to ban glyphosate, so if the Vietnamese government is now claiming they have data or research showing otherwise, it must be released immediately."
Mr Cossey said the decisions on agricultural chemicals must be based on accurate, scientific data and evidence-based assessments.
"Rather than send their farmers back to the dark ages by banning glyphosate, the Vietnamese government should be considering ways to better assist their farmers to safely use crop protection products," he said.
