Taipei Times
Date: May 18, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A weedkiller at the center of a lawsuit in the US is used in Taiwan, but is barred from use outside of farms, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Chou Hui-chuan (鄒慧娟) said on Tuesday.

Glyphosate was used extensively in Taiwan last year, with 1,337 tonnes applied, Chou said.

A jury in California on Monday returned a verdict awarding US$2 billion in damages to a couple who alleged that Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup caused their cancer. It was the largest US jury verdict against the German chemical giant in litigation over glyphosate.

Chou said that, in the litigation against Bayer, the weedkiller was not used on farmland, but on campuses and residential areas.    [FULL  STORY]