HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined a 15-state coalition in asking the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to uphold uniform national labeling requirements for farming herbicides, to ensure farmers have access to glyphosate, a proven safe and environmentally friendly weed control tool in agriculture.
The amicus brief was filed in Monsanto Company v. John Durnell. Previously, a Missouri district court incorrectly ruled the Monsanto company violated a Missouri law which requires manufacturers to add a warning label on glyphosate-containing products, suggesting they are carcinogenic or face a legal liability. As the attorneys general note, requiring the company to add a warning label in Missouri conflicts with the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Under FIFRA, pesticides must be registered with the EPA before they are distributed or sold. While states may regulate the sale and use of glyphosate under the guidelines of FIFRA, they are not permitted to impose individual labeling that differs from federally approved labels. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) scientific research shows that glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” and that a warning to that effect would be misbranding. Additionally, Monsanto has manufactured and sold glyphosate products for decades, with EPA approval.
“Permitting states to impose bespoke labeling requirements on glyphosate products will have disastrous consequences for Amici States’ farmers and their agricultural industries. Prices will increase, discouraging use of the best and safest product and causing deleterious downstream effects on consumers and the environment,” the attorneys general wrote in the brief.
Ultimately, without a uniform nationwide standard, states such as California could impose individual labeling requirements that disrupt supply chains nationwide, leading to increased costs for Montana farmers and potentially threaten access to glyphosate entirely, pushing farmers to use other, often more toxic, herbicides.
Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah joined the brief led by Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.
