May 12, 2025:
UNDATED (AP)- In a victory for global agrochemical maker Bayer, Georgia has become the second state to shield pesticide manufacturers from some lawsuits claiming that they failed to warn customers of potential dangers.
The legislation signed Friday (May 9, 2025) by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is designed to protect Bayer from lawsuits claiming that it failed to tell customers that its popular weed killer Roundup could cause cancer. It’s written broadly enough to provide legal protection in Georgia to any pesticide manufacturer that follows federal labeling requirements.
North Dakota’s governor signed the first such law last month (April 23, 2025), and similar measures have been considered this year in at least nine other states.
Bayer, based in Germany, acquired Roundup with the 2018 purchase of St. Louis-based Monsanto. But it quickly was hit with an onslaught of lawsuits alleging that Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. More than 67,000 of a total 181,000 claims involving Roundup remain outstanding, but a Bayer spokesperson said Monday that he didn’t have specifics about how many of those are in Georgia.
Though some studies associate glyphosate with cancer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed.
Bayer insists glyphosate is safe. But it has stopped using the ingredient in its residential version of Roundup and has set aside $16 billion to settle cases. It continues to use glyphosate in its agricultural version of Roundup but has warned that it might have to stop doing so if the legal costs keep mounting.
The new Georgia law is to take effect Jan. 1. That means it won’t effect existing cases, such as a March decision by a Georgia jury to award nearly $2.1 billion in damages to a man who alleged Roundup caused his cancer.
Kemp decided to sign the legislation after hearing from farmers and others in the agricultural community, spokesperson Garrison Douglas said Monday.
Bayer has teamed up with a coalition of agricultural industry groups to mount a multiprong campaign. In addition to pursuing legislation in states and Congress, it also has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and has run ads on billboards, newspapers, TV and radio stations and internet sites touting the importance of glyphosate in agriculture.
Glyphosate has for decades been used an efficient way to control weeds with less tilling, which helps prevent soil erosion. For some crops, such as corn, soybeans and cotton, Roundup is designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist glyphosate’s deadly effect.
Without glyphosate, weeds could become harder to control, crop yields could decline and groceries could become more costly, Bayer said.
The new law “demonstrates that Georgia stands with its farmers, who work tirelessly to produce safe and affordable food,” said Brian Naber, president of Bayer’s crop sciences in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
April 25, 2025:
UNDATED (AP)- A new first-of-its-kind law enacted in North Dakota could shield agrochemical manufacturer Bayer from lawsuits claiming it failed to warn customers that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer.
Though the immediate effect may be small, given that North Dakota is among the least populated U.S. states, Bayer is hopeful that success there could lead to similar laws being passed around the country. The company faces an onslaught of lawsuits seeking billions of dollars for alleged harm from Roundup. The next state to follow North Dakota could be Georgia, where a similar bill is pending before Gov. Brian Kemp.
Bayer, based in Germany, acquired Roundup with the 2018 purchase of St. Louis-based Monsanto. It contends glyphosate, an active ingredient in Roundup, has for decades provided a safe and efficient way to control weeds with less tilling, which helps prevent soil erosion. For crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton, Roundup is designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist glyphosate’s deadly effect.
“Without crop protection tools, America’s consumers could face higher costs to provide for their families and put food on the table,” Brian Naber, Bayer’s president of crop science for North America, Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement praising the North Dakota law.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong declined to comment Thursday (April 24, 2025) about the legislation, which he signed without fanfare a day earlier.
Bayer has been hit with about 181,000 legal claims alleging that Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Though some studies associate glyphosate with cancer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed.
Bayer, which disputes the cancer claims, has teamed with a coalition of agricultural groups to back legislation in at least 11 states this year seeking to undercut the main argument made in the lawsuits. The bills declare that a federally approved label on pesticides is sufficient to satisfy any duty under state law to warn customers. Bayer also has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the legal claims.
Many agricultural industry groups contend glyphosate is an essential tool for farmers. They’re concerned that mounting legal costs could lead Bayer to pull the product from the U.S. market.
The North Dakota law, which will take effect Aug. 1, “is a resounding win for farmers” and “sets the standard for states across America to pass legislation,” said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance, which Bayer helps finance.
Though prompted by lawsuits against Bayer, the North Dakota legislation would apply more broadly to other pesticides with federally approved labels.
“Ultimately, this sets a bad precedent,” said Sam Wagner, an agriculture and food organizer for the Dakota Resource Council, which opposed the measure. “It will arguably make it extremely tough for anyone to win a case” filed in North Dakota against a pesticide manufacturer.
As President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to rollback federal regulations, new state laws that limit court claims could leave some people without any avenue to seek compensation for their injuries and losses, said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for an end to toxic pesticides.
“The chemical companies should not be able to hide behind a weak regulatory system,” Feldman said.
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