Bayer seeks legal cover in US for its Roundup weedkiller sales

German pharmaceutical and biotechnology group, Bayer, has told the US government that it would have to stop selling its Roundup weedkiller in the United States unless it gets strong legal protection against liability litigations.

Bayer has so far paid about $10 billion to settle claims by activists and organisations in the US that the glyphposate-based herbicide Roundup, causes cancer. It has also set aside another $5.9 billion in legal provisioning to settle another 67,000-odd pending cases.

The German company has said that the product has been cleared by the federal US Environmental Protection Agency as safe to use, as have regulators in other parts of the world. However, plaintiffs continue to take Bayer to court by invoking US state rules. This should end, the company stated.

Bayer acquired weedkiller Roundup in the $63 billion takeover of Monsanto in 2018 and this has been the cream of that acquisition. The company on Wednesday said glyphosate is by far the most widely used weedkillers in US and generated 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in revenue last year.

But, considering the number and pace of litigation against the product, Bayer said it could reach a point where it has to discontinue sale of the product in the United States.

Bayer said it has been doing everything, including working with farmers’ organisations in the US to lobby federal and state legislators as also preparing to file petition the Supreme Court seeking legal protection against litigation.

Alternatively, Bayer, one of the world’s largest seeds and pesticides company, had replaced glyphosate in the US consumer products with other weedkillers.

Bayer, the only glyphosate producer in the United States, competes with Corteva, BASF and China's Syngenta in the market. It also faces competition from cheaper generic glyphosate imports from China.