Industry studies behind EU food safety assessments must be public, EU Parliament

16 April 2019
by greenpeace -- last modified 17 April 2019

The European Parliament voted today to introduce new transparency rules for EU food safety assessments, as part of the EU's 'general food law'.

The amended law will oblige the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to publish the industry studies used in European safety evaluations of products that can end up in food – such as pesticides, GMOs and animal feed additives.

Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg said: "The chemical industry will still test the safety of their own products, but at least now the studies will be published so that independent scientists can scrutinise their contents and the advice EFSA gives to lawmakers. EFSA has in the past privileged corporate interests over the public's right to know, so we will be watching closely to see that the new rules are properly applied."

The European Commission proposal for this new law was a direct response to the #StopGlyphosate European Citizens' Initiative, through which more than a million citizens asked the Commission to ban glyphosate, reform the pesticide approval procedure and set mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use. They asked specifically that all studies used to back up regulatory approval of pesticides be published.

On 7 March, the European Court of Justice found that EFSA violated existing EU transparency laws by withholding extensive sections of industry studies on glyphosate.

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