Difference between revisions of "European Food Safety Authority"

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The [[European Food Safety Authority]] (EFSA) describes itself as:
+
Established in 2002, the [[European Food Safety Authority]] (EFSA) describes itself as:
 
:the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.<ref>EFSA, [http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_home.htm European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)], EFSA website, accessed 02 July 2009.</ref>
 
:the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.<ref>EFSA, [http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_home.htm European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)], EFSA website, accessed 02 July 2009.</ref>
  
==GMO Panel==
+
==Risk assessment==
The [[GMO Panel]] of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assesses new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for approval in Europe and reports to the European Commission, which then submits its decision to the European Council. In the event that the Council cannot reach a qualified majority for or against authorisation, the matter is sent back to the Commission, which is free to authorise the GMO based on a special regulatory procedure called comitology.
+
 
 +
===Risk assessment for GMOs===
  
 
The EFSA has never given a negative opinion on a GMO put forward for approval, whatever the scientific concerns about its safety.<ref>EurActiv, "[http://www.euractiv.com/en/environment/commission-hesitant-approve-gm-crops/article-172209 Commission hesitant to approve more GM crops]," 08 May 2008, accessed 02 July 2009.</ref> In July 2009 it gave a positive opinion even on Monsanto's GM maize MON810, which is banned for health and environmental reasons in six EU Member States as allowed under EU law.<ref>FoEE, "[http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2009/Jun30_EFSA_back_in_bed_with_GMO.html EFSA back in bed with GMO industry: MON810 opinion shown to Monsanto but not to public]," Friends of the Earth Press Release, 30 June 2009, accessed 02 July 2009.</ref>
 
The EFSA has never given a negative opinion on a GMO put forward for approval, whatever the scientific concerns about its safety.<ref>EurActiv, "[http://www.euractiv.com/en/environment/commission-hesitant-approve-gm-crops/article-172209 Commission hesitant to approve more GM crops]," 08 May 2008, accessed 02 July 2009.</ref> In July 2009 it gave a positive opinion even on Monsanto's GM maize MON810, which is banned for health and environmental reasons in six EU Member States as allowed under EU law.<ref>FoEE, "[http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2009/Jun30_EFSA_back_in_bed_with_GMO.html EFSA back in bed with GMO industry: MON810 opinion shown to Monsanto but not to public]," Friends of the Earth Press Release, 30 June 2009, accessed 02 July 2009.</ref>
  
===Criticism of GMO Panel===
+
====GMO Unit====
Dr [[Arpad Pusztai]] is an internationally renowned scientist who conducted groundbreaking research into the safety of GM potatoes and was fired and gagged when he found problems and spoke about them on British television. In an email to GMWatch (dated 10 August 2008) on the tenth anniversary of his 15 seconds of TV fame, he wrote of GM food safety and the EFSA's GMO Panel:
 
:On this anniversary I have to admit that, unfortunately, not much has changed since 1998. In one of the few sentences I said in my broadcast ten years ago, I asked for a credible GM testing protocol to be established that would be acceptable to the majority of scientists and to people in general. 10 years on we still haven't got one. Instead, in Europe we have an unelected EFSA GMO Panel with no clear responsibility to European consumers, which invariably underwrites the safety of whatever product the GM biotech industry is pushing onto us.
 
  
===Monsanto's GM maize in EU===
+
The GMO Unit was established in 2003 as a department dedicated to risk assessment for GMOs and to oversee the coordination of the [[GMO Panel]].  The Unit was led by [[Suzy Renckens]].<ref>Testbiotech (2010), "[http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/EFSA_Playing_Field_of_ILSI.pdf European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry]," Testbiotech report, p3, accessed 9 January 2013.</ref> 
In 2004, EFSA approved feed and food use of Monsanto's GM Roundup-ready maize NK603 in 2004, and its cultivation in the EU in 2009.
+
 
 +
====GMO Panel====
  
French scientist [[Gilles-Eric Séralini]]'s study on rats being fed with NK603 showed that the rats tested with Roundup died earlier than their control group, developing severe tumours and kidney and liver pathologies. The rats only fed with the GM maize also developed tumours. EFSA is criticized for having based its assessment on a narrow range of studies that tested rats for a short period of only 90 days. Séralini pointed out that in his research most of the tumours among the rats he studied only appeared after the first year.  
+
The [[GMO Panel]] of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assesses new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for approval in Europe and reports to the European Commission, which then submits its decision to the European Council. In the event that the Council cannot reach a qualified majority for or against authorisation, the matter is sent back to the Commission, which is free to authorise the GMO based on a special regulatory procedure called comitology.
  
According to CEO, more than half of the GMO panel experts who signed the approval for this GM maize had links with industry resulting in conflicts of interest, as defined by the [[OECD]].<ref>Corporate Europe Observatory, "[http://corporateeurope.org/news/study-monsantos-gm-maize-intensifies-concerns-about-efsas-reliability-monsanto-strikes-back-pr Study on Monsanto's GM maize intensifies concerns about EFSA's reliability – Monsanto strikes back with PR offensive]," 21 September 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.</ref>
+
In 2010, Testbiotech published the report [[European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry]].  The report addresses conflicts of interest within the [[GMO Panel]] membership to demonstrate how the Panel's relationship with the biotech industry - and in particular via the influence of a task force of the [[International Life Sciences Institute]] (ILSI) - resulted in comparative assessment being taken as the starting point in the EFSA guidelines on risk assessment of genetically engineered plants.  Comparative assessment, an approach to risk assessment which assumes equivalence between conventional breeding and genetic engineering, has serious implications for the scientific rigour of research into the risks of genetically engineered plants.<ref>Testbiotech, "[http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/EFSA_Playing_Field_of_ILSI.pdf European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry]," Testbiotech report, 2010, accessed 9 January 2013.</ref>
  
===Risk assessment for GM plants===
+
====Monsanto's GM maize in the EU====
  
====Industry influence on EFSA risk assessment guidelines for genetically engineered plants====
+
In 2004, EFSA approved feed and food use of Monsanto's GM Roundup-ready maize NK603 in 2004, and its cultivation in the EU in 2009.
  
In 2010, Testbiotech published the report [[European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry]].  The report addresses conflicts of interest within the GMO Panel membership to demonstrate how the Panel's relationship with the biotech industry - and in particular via the influence of a task force of the [[International Life Sciences Institute]] (ILSI) - resulted in comparative assessment being taken as the starting point in the EFSA guidelines on risk assessment of genetically engineered plants.  Comparative assessment, an approach to risk assessment which assumes equivalence between conventional breeding and genetic engineering, has serious implications for the scientific rigour of research into the risks of genetically engineered plants.<ref>Testbiotech, "[http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/EFSA_Playing_Field_of_ILSI.pdf European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry]," Testbiotech report, 2010, accessed 9 January 2013.</ref>
+
French scientist [[Gilles-Eric Séralini]]'s study on rats being fed with NK603 showed that the rats tested with Roundup died earlier than their control group, developing severe tumours and kidney and liver pathologies. The rats only fed with the GM maize also developed tumours. EFSA is criticized for having based its assessment on a narrow range of studies that tested rats for a short period of only 90 days. Séralini pointed out that in his research most of the tumours among the rats he studied only appeared after the first year.  
  
===Membership of the GMO Panel===
+
According to CEO, more than half of the [[GMO Panel]] experts who signed the approval for this GM maize had links with industry resulting in conflicts of interest, as defined by the [[OECD]].<ref>Corporate Europe Observatory, "[http://corporateeurope.org/news/study-monsantos-gm-maize-intensifies-concerns-about-efsas-reliability-monsanto-strikes-back-pr Study on Monsanto's GM maize intensifies concerns about EFSA's reliability – Monsanto strikes back with PR offensive]," 21 September 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.</ref>
  
====GMO Panel members appointed 2012====
+
==People==
:[[Joe Perry]], Chair
 
:[[Patrick du Jardin]], Vice-chair
 
:[[Gijs Kleter]], Vice-chair
 
:[[Salvatore Arpaia]]
 
:[[Andrew Nicholas Edmund Birch]]
 
:[[Andrew Chesson]]
 
:[[Achim Gathmann]]
 
:[[Jürgen Gropp]]
 
:[[Lieve Herman]]
 
:[[Hilde-Gunn Hoen-Sorteberg]]
 
:[[Huw Jones]]
 
:[[Jozsef Kiss]]
 
:[[Pagona Lagiou]]
 
:[[Martinus Lovik]]
 
:[[Antoine Messéan]]
 
:[[Hanspeter Naegeli]]
 
:[[Kaare M. Nielsen]]
 
:[[Jaroslava Ovesna]]
 
:[[Nils Rostoks]]
 
:[[Christoph Tebbe]]<ref>EFSA, [http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/gmo/gmomembers.htm Members of the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)], accessed 04 October 2012.</ref>
 
  
====Former GMO Panel members 2002-2012====
+
===Conflicts of interest on EFSA's management board===
[[Harry Kuiper]] (Chair), [[Sirpa Kärenlampi]] (Vice-Chair), [[Hans Christer Andersson]], [[Detlef Bartsch]], [[Josep Casacuberta]], [[Howard Davies]], [[Gerhard Flachowsky]], [[Annette Poeting]], [[Jeremy Sweet]], [[Atte Johannes von Wright]], [[Jean-Michel Wal]]
 
  
==Conflicts of interest on EFSA's management board==
 
 
In March 2011 Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) highlighted in a report  that at least four members of EFSA’s management board are employed by or otherwise linked with food industry lobby groups and other commercial interests, a situation that creates conflicts of interest. These board members are: [[Matthias Horst]] (director general of the German food industry lobby [[BVE]]), [[Milan Kováč]] (director of [[International Life Sciences Institute]] Europe), [[Jiří Ruprich]] ([[Danone]] Institute) and [[Piet Vanthemsche]] (farmers’ lobby [[COPA]] and [[Agri Investment Fund]]).<ref>Corporate Europe Observatory, "[http://www.corporateeurope.org/content/2011/02/efsa-conflicts-interest-board Serial conflicts of interest on EFSA’s management board]," 23 February 2011, accessed 16 Mar 2011. (Focuses on links with the food and feed industry.)</ref><ref>Corporate Europe Observatory, "[http://corporateeurope.org/publications/exposed-conflicts-interest-among-efsa-experts-food-additives Exposed: conflicts of interest among EFSA’s experts on food additives]," 15 June 2011, accessed 04 October 2012. (Focuses on links with companies that make food additives.)</ref>  
 
In March 2011 Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) highlighted in a report  that at least four members of EFSA’s management board are employed by or otherwise linked with food industry lobby groups and other commercial interests, a situation that creates conflicts of interest. These board members are: [[Matthias Horst]] (director general of the German food industry lobby [[BVE]]), [[Milan Kováč]] (director of [[International Life Sciences Institute]] Europe), [[Jiří Ruprich]] ([[Danone]] Institute) and [[Piet Vanthemsche]] (farmers’ lobby [[COPA]] and [[Agri Investment Fund]]).<ref>Corporate Europe Observatory, "[http://www.corporateeurope.org/content/2011/02/efsa-conflicts-interest-board Serial conflicts of interest on EFSA’s management board]," 23 February 2011, accessed 16 Mar 2011. (Focuses on links with the food and feed industry.)</ref><ref>Corporate Europe Observatory, "[http://corporateeurope.org/publications/exposed-conflicts-interest-among-efsa-experts-food-additives Exposed: conflicts of interest among EFSA’s experts on food additives]," 15 June 2011, accessed 04 October 2012. (Focuses on links with companies that make food additives.)</ref>  
  
 
===Resignation of Diána Bánáti===
 
===Resignation of Diána Bánáti===
 +
 
[[Diána Bánáti]] was appointed member of the EFSA Management Board in June 2006, re-appointed for a second term in 2010 with a 4-year mandate, and elected Chair of the Management Board in October 2010.<ref>EFSA, [http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/faqs/faqresignationdianabanati.htm FAQ on the resignation of Diana Banati as member and Chair of EFSA´s Management Board], accessed 04 October 2012.</ref> She resigned from EFSA on 08 May 2012, informing it of her decision to take up a professional position at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a body which acts on behalf of numerous food and biotech multinationals, including [[Danone]], [[Kraft Foods]], [[Monsanto]], [[Nestle]] and [[Procter & Gamble]].<ref>Peter, Laurence, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18007004 Euro MPs criticise managers of EU agencies]," BBC News 10 May 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.</ref>
 
[[Diána Bánáti]] was appointed member of the EFSA Management Board in June 2006, re-appointed for a second term in 2010 with a 4-year mandate, and elected Chair of the Management Board in October 2010.<ref>EFSA, [http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/faqs/faqresignationdianabanati.htm FAQ on the resignation of Diana Banati as member and Chair of EFSA´s Management Board], accessed 04 October 2012.</ref> She resigned from EFSA on 08 May 2012, informing it of her decision to take up a professional position at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a body which acts on behalf of numerous food and biotech multinationals, including [[Danone]], [[Kraft Foods]], [[Monsanto]], [[Nestle]] and [[Procter & Gamble]].<ref>Peter, Laurence, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18007004 Euro MPs criticise managers of EU agencies]," BBC News 10 May 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.</ref>
  
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===Management Board members===
 
===Management Board members===
 +
 
:[[Sue Davies]] (Vice-Chair)
 
:[[Sue Davies]] (Vice-Chair)
 
:[[Piergiuseppe Facelli]] (Vice-Chair)
 
:[[Piergiuseppe Facelli]] (Vice-Chair)

Revision as of 20:57, 12 January 2013

Foodspin badge.png This article is part of the Foodspin project of Spinwatch.

Established in 2002, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) describes itself as:

the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.[1]

Risk assessment

Risk assessment for GMOs

The EFSA has never given a negative opinion on a GMO put forward for approval, whatever the scientific concerns about its safety.[2] In July 2009 it gave a positive opinion even on Monsanto's GM maize MON810, which is banned for health and environmental reasons in six EU Member States as allowed under EU law.[3]

GMO Unit

The GMO Unit was established in 2003 as a department dedicated to risk assessment for GMOs and to oversee the coordination of the GMO Panel. The Unit was led by Suzy Renckens.[4]

GMO Panel

The GMO Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assesses new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for approval in Europe and reports to the European Commission, which then submits its decision to the European Council. In the event that the Council cannot reach a qualified majority for or against authorisation, the matter is sent back to the Commission, which is free to authorise the GMO based on a special regulatory procedure called comitology.

In 2010, Testbiotech published the report European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry. The report addresses conflicts of interest within the GMO Panel membership to demonstrate how the Panel's relationship with the biotech industry - and in particular via the influence of a task force of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) - resulted in comparative assessment being taken as the starting point in the EFSA guidelines on risk assessment of genetically engineered plants. Comparative assessment, an approach to risk assessment which assumes equivalence between conventional breeding and genetic engineering, has serious implications for the scientific rigour of research into the risks of genetically engineered plants.[5]

Monsanto's GM maize in the EU

In 2004, EFSA approved feed and food use of Monsanto's GM Roundup-ready maize NK603 in 2004, and its cultivation in the EU in 2009.

French scientist Gilles-Eric Séralini's study on rats being fed with NK603 showed that the rats tested with Roundup died earlier than their control group, developing severe tumours and kidney and liver pathologies. The rats only fed with the GM maize also developed tumours. EFSA is criticized for having based its assessment on a narrow range of studies that tested rats for a short period of only 90 days. Séralini pointed out that in his research most of the tumours among the rats he studied only appeared after the first year.

According to CEO, more than half of the GMO Panel experts who signed the approval for this GM maize had links with industry resulting in conflicts of interest, as defined by the OECD.[6]

People

Conflicts of interest on EFSA's management board

In March 2011 Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) highlighted in a report that at least four members of EFSA’s management board are employed by or otherwise linked with food industry lobby groups and other commercial interests, a situation that creates conflicts of interest. These board members are: Matthias Horst (director general of the German food industry lobby BVE), Milan Kováč (director of International Life Sciences Institute Europe), Jiří Ruprich (Danone Institute) and Piet Vanthemsche (farmers’ lobby COPA and Agri Investment Fund).[7][8]

Resignation of Diána Bánáti

Diána Bánáti was appointed member of the EFSA Management Board in June 2006, re-appointed for a second term in 2010 with a 4-year mandate, and elected Chair of the Management Board in October 2010.[9] She resigned from EFSA on 08 May 2012, informing it of her decision to take up a professional position at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a body which acts on behalf of numerous food and biotech multinationals, including Danone, Kraft Foods, Monsanto, Nestle and Procter & Gamble.[10]

A report by the parliament's budget committee, issued before Ms Banati's resignation, raised questions about her links with ILSI, going back to 2010, that said she had "failed, in 2010, to declare her membership of the Board of Directors of the ILSI". It called the EFSA board's scrutiny of its members' declarations of interest "insufficiently rigorous and detailed".[11]

The EFSA insisted that Hungarian Professor Bánáti has had no influence or control over the organisation’s decision on food or crop safety issues. EFSA has been criticised to have allowed her remain in her EFSA position for so long, despite the fact that it has been known for a long time that she had connections to the GM industry and the wider food industry through ILSI.

Green MEP José Bové stated that the conflict of interest in her role with ILSI made her position as EFSA chair completely "inappropriate and untenable".[12]

ILSI denies being an industry lobbying body. It describes itself as a "non-profit, worldwide organisation whose mission is to provide science that improves public health and well-being."[13]

Management Board members

Sue Davies (Vice-Chair)
Piergiuseppe Facelli (Vice-Chair)
Valérie Baduel
Manuel Barreto Dias
Marianne Elvander
Jaana Husu-Kallio
Milan Kováč
Stella Michaelidou-Canna
Jan Mousing
Radu Roatiş Cheţan
Jiří Ruprich
Pieter Vanthemsche
Tadeusz M. Wijaszka
Paola Testori Coggi
Ladislav Miko[14]

Affiliations

Funding

Contact

Address:
European Food Safety Authority
Largo N. Palli 5/A
43121 Parma
ITALY
Phone:
+39 0521 036111
Fax:
+39 0521 036110
Website:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/

Resources

Notes

  1. EFSA, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), EFSA website, accessed 02 July 2009.
  2. EurActiv, "Commission hesitant to approve more GM crops," 08 May 2008, accessed 02 July 2009.
  3. FoEE, "EFSA back in bed with GMO industry: MON810 opinion shown to Monsanto but not to public," Friends of the Earth Press Release, 30 June 2009, accessed 02 July 2009.
  4. Testbiotech (2010), "European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry," Testbiotech report, p3, accessed 9 January 2013.
  5. Testbiotech, "European Food Safety Authority: A playing field for the biotech industry," Testbiotech report, 2010, accessed 9 January 2013.
  6. Corporate Europe Observatory, "Study on Monsanto's GM maize intensifies concerns about EFSA's reliability – Monsanto strikes back with PR offensive," 21 September 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.
  7. Corporate Europe Observatory, "Serial conflicts of interest on EFSA’s management board," 23 February 2011, accessed 16 Mar 2011. (Focuses on links with the food and feed industry.)
  8. Corporate Europe Observatory, "Exposed: conflicts of interest among EFSA’s experts on food additives," 15 June 2011, accessed 04 October 2012. (Focuses on links with companies that make food additives.)
  9. EFSA, FAQ on the resignation of Diana Banati as member and Chair of EFSA´s Management Board, accessed 04 October 2012.
  10. Peter, Laurence, "Euro MPs criticise managers of EU agencies," BBC News 10 May 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.
  11. Ibid.
  12. Poulter, Sean, "EU watchdog forced out over links to 'Frankenstein food' firms," Mail Online 10 May 2012, accessed 04 October 2012.
  13. Ibid.
  14. EFSA, Management Board members, accessed 04 October 2012.