Suzy Renckens
Dr. Suzy Renckens was Head of the GMO Unit and Scientific Co-ordinator of the GMO Panel at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) from October 2002 to 2008.
In 2008 she was appointed as Head of Regulatory & Stewardship Seeds for Europe, Africa and Middle East at Swiss biotech company Syngenta.[1]
A Belgian national, Renckens holds a PhD in applied biological sciencess. She previously worked as a researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She went on to work from 1996 to 2002 as Project Leader at the Secretariat of the Biosafety Council at the Scientific Institute of Public Health in Brussels[2], where she was involved in risk assessment for genetically modified plants.[3]
Conflict of interests
German NGO Testbiotech reports that during her time at the EFSA, Renckens 'represented the EFSA in several meetings with industry'. Following her appointment in 2008, Renckens officially represented Syngenta in an expert hearing at the EU level.[4]
In 2011, the European ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros upheld a complaint by Testbiotech against the EFSA, saying:
- EFSA should acknowledge that it failed to observe the relevant procedural rules and to carry out a sufficiently thorough assessment of the potential conflict of interests arising from the move of a former member of its staff to a biotechnology company.[5]
Contact
Suzy Renckens
Notes
- ↑ Suzy Renckens, Linkedin profile, accessed 12 January 2013
- ↑ Suzy Renckens, Linkedin profile, accessed 12 January 2013
- ↑ EFSA (2004), Interview with Suzy Renckens, EFSAnews: The Newsletter of the European Food Safety Authority, N°2 May/June 2004, accessed 12 January 2013
- ↑ Testbiotech, Leading European Food Safety Authority Staff Member Moves into Industry, accessed 12 January 2013
- ↑ Martin Banks (2011), Watchdog criticises EU agency over 'revolving door' case, The Parliament, 8 December 2011, accessed 12 January 2013
