On Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue defended glyphosate while testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said that considering the many glyphosate-related lawsuits against Bayer, the company could pull the product from the market if it determines selling the product is not worth the legal risk.

Perdue said such a move would be “devastating,” adding that the product has “exponentially” increased production in the last 25 years along with other crop protection chemicals.

“I’m afraid that while groups that oppose these types of uses have not been able to win on the science side, they've chosen the litigation route,” he said. “I’m hoping that the appeals court will see through this and make better decisions about that,” he added.

“What we’re seeing in the E.U. along this route, I call it the ‘technology-free zone,’” Perdue said. “I think again they will pay the price for this in the future.”

In 2015, the World Health Organization declared glyphosate to be “probably carcinogenic.” This prompted many of the pending 1,600 legal cases to be filed. However, an investigation by the news agency Reuters later found key information that the pesticide, in fact, does not cause cancer in animals, and that information had been omitted from the report.