Speaking during the fortnightly debate, Passos Coelho gave the commitment in response to a question from the Green MP Heloísa Apolónia and said that the government was “highly attentive to the issue” and despite warnings there remained “no evidence as to actual contamination”.
While glyphosate is the most commonly applied herbicide in Portugal, the prime minister pointed out that “the European Commission had yet to take any position but we shall launch an investigation into this issue and reach conclusions and should such be the case then we shall advance measures to protect public health.”
In late March, the International Agency for Research into Cancer, a World Health Organisation body, warned that glyphosate represented “a probable carcinogen to human beings.”