U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Thursday criticized Vietnam’s move to ban imports of glyphosate-based herbicides, saying the decision would have “devastating impacts on global agricultural production.”

Vietnam’s government said in a statement that the toxic level of herbicides containing glyphosate had long been of concern, in the latest display of global worries over the product’s impact on human health. State media reports said the ban would take effect in June.

Glyphosate, is the target of thousands of lawsuits in the United States alleging exposure to it causes cancer.

Vietnam’s ban will not improve food security or safety in the country and that the company was not aware of any new scientific assessment undertaken by Vietnam’s government on which the decision is based.

While regulators in Europe and elsewhere agree with the U.S. assessment, the World Health Organization’s cancer arm in 2015 classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said in a statement posted on the department’s website that long-term exposure to herbicides and pesticides affects the environment and is severely unhealthy for those exposed.

“The decision to remove herbicides containing glyphosate from the list of plant protection chemicals permitted for use in Vietnam is in accordance with the current law, international regulations and in line with Vietnam’s socio-economic conditions,” Trung said in the statement.