Court hears suit over herbicide's health risk

Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture appeared in court for a hearing on Monday, after three Beijing environmentalists sued to force it to release safety reports on a popular weed killer.

A decision is pending.

The environmentalists, all Beijing residents, sued the ministry in September to force disclosure after an agency of the World Health Organization declared that an active ingredient used in an herbicide known as Roundup - a product of US agrochemical giant Monsanto that is widely used around the world for weed control - likely caused cancer.