Colombian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Aurelio Iragorri Valencia, has vowed to stand behind any conclusions reached by health authorities into the safety of herbicide glyphosate.

The country's Ministry of Health and the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) are reviewing the use of the world's most commonly used herbicide, which in March was described as "probably carcinogenic" by a group of scientists affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO).

At the time, the Monsanto Company (NASDAQ:MON) expressed "outrage" at the determination reached by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on the herbicide, which is a key ingredient in its Roundup product.

Iragorri Valencia said all pesticides used in agriculture required security and control measures to prevent harmful effects for the people who apply them, and could not be approved if they did not meet health and environmental requirements.

"We are awaiting the review of this issue to see if approximately 60 registrations that currently exist for the herbicide glyphosate should be revised," he said.

"According to these results, we will make the necessary decisions to avoid the use of any of these products from having a harmful effect on those that are using it," he said, adding the pesticides malathion, diazinon, parathion and tetraclorvinfos were also under analysis.

Bananas, sugar and coffee are Colombia's top agricultural exports in volume, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, while ProColombia reported the country exported more than four billion metric tons (MT) worth of agro-industrial products last year.

In terms of produce, the South American also exports pineapples, Tahitian limes, mangoes, peppers and mushrooms, while it also has incipient but fast-growing export industries in avocados, dragon fruit, granadillas, physalis, gulupas and passion fruit.

Photo: Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

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