Minister Maggi retracts tweet on lifting of Brazilian glyphosate ban

Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi has distanced himself from remarks made regarding lifting the temporary ban on the herbicide glyphosate just 15 hours after they were made on social media.

The minister tweeted Thursday afternoon to say he had "good news," as the ban on glyphosate, imposed by a Brazilian judge on August 3 “had just been revoked at court.”

He retracted that statement in second tweet Friday morning, translated from Portuguese:

“My desire to resolve this issue is such that I have just passed on information that the glyphosate injunction had been struck down ... I’m still waiting for the decision. Sorry for what has happened!!”

The ban is still in place pending a court decision after an appeal was submitted by Brazil's Attorney General earlier this week.

The minister has been a strong supporter of the use of glyphosate and said at an event last week that a permanent ban of the chemical would be a “disaster” for Brazil, adding that the product is “perfectly safe” and called the criticism "urban legends."

One Brazil-based source called Friday’s developments “fake news from Maggi,” in response to the developments.

“It’s getting hard to believe in highlights these days… Even when the information comes from an official source,” a second Brazil-based source said.

The appeal submitted earlier this week by the Attorney General, with the support of the minister, is still pending until the national health authority re-evaluates the safety of glyphosate.

The application of glyphosate is key in Brazil’s large soybean industry of which 95% are planted using no-till farming, an agricultural technique in which the ground is left untouched before plantings to control erosion and prevent loss of nutrients, but which requires an herbicide before planting.

Glyphosate has hit the headlines recently after a Californian judge ruled in favour of a groundskeeper who sued glyphosate-maker Monsanto arguing the use of the product had triggered his cancer.

Monsanto’s owner, Bayer, has now seen a huge surge in lawsuits after the decision, but maintains that the product is “a vital, effective, and safe tool for farmers and others.”