PARMA (dpa-AFX) - The European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) sees no unacceptable risks from the use of the controversial weed killer glyphosate, but data gaps in several areas. Among the questions that could not be conclusively answered are nutritional risks to consumers and the assessment of risks to aquatic plants, Efsa said Thursday. Also, with regard to species protection, the available information did not allow for clear conclusions.

That aside, the agency, based in Parma, Italy, said it had not identified any so-called critical areas of concern in terms of risk to humans, animals or the environment. Efsa stressed that a problem is defined as "critical" if all proposed uses of glyphosate are "affected" and could have adverse effects on human or animal health, for example.

So far, the product has been approved until December 15. The EU agriculture ministers must now decide whether glyphosate may continue to be used in the EU.

Glyphosate has long been the subject of heated debate, with critics seeing it as a threat to biodiversity, for example. They also often point to an assessment by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which classifies glyphosate as probably carcinogenic. However, manufacturer Bayer vehemently rejects this and points out that its assessment is also shared by "a large number of independent regulatory authorities around the world." The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, for example, concludes that "glyphosate is not carcinogenic when used as intended and in the appropriate manner." Bayer also rejects the accusation that glyphosate harms biodiversity./mjm/DP/nas