FILE PHOTO: Monsanto Co's Roundup is shown for sale in Encinitas, California, U.S., June 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Use of glyphoste-based weed-killers should be halted during the current legislative period which ends in three years, a spokesman for the German environment ministry said on Monday.

Shares of Germany's Bayer BAYGn.DE fell more than 10 percent on Monday after a California jury ordered the company's Monsanto unit to pay $289 million for not warning of cancer risks posed by its main weed killer, Roundup.

Monsanto, acquired by Bayer this year for $63 billion, faces more than 5,000 similar lawsuits across the United States. The company plans to appeal the verdict.