The sale of popular weedkiller Roundup, which the UN has warned may be carcinogenic, has been banned from garden centers in France to keep it away from amateur growers.
The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, was classified in March as "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer, reported wire service AFP.
The weedkiller – used by amateur gardeners as well as farmers – is the star product of American biotechnology giant Monsanto.
"France must be on the offensive with regards to the banning of pesticides," French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal said on French television.
"I have asked garden centers to stop putting Monsanto's Roundup on sale" in self-service aisles, she added.
Her announcement comes after French consumer association CLCV asked French and European officials to stop selling glyphosate-based products to amateur gardeners.
Glyphosate – introduced in the 1970s under the brand Roundup but now manufactured generically – is the most-produced weedkiller in the world, said the UN agency.
The agency's evaluation of glyphosate saw "limited evidence" of a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as seen in studies in the United States, Sweden and Canada conducted among farm workers since 2001.
The U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto strongly contested the classification, saying "relevant, scientific data was excluded from review".
Royal also announced last week that from January 2018 phytosanitary products – used to control plant diseases – would only be available to amateur gardeners "through an intermediary or a certified vendor."
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