EU Commission plan allows chemical producers to keep control of science behind pesticide approvals: Greenpeace

12 April 2018
by greenpeace -- last modified 12 April 2018

A European Commission proposal to reform EU risk assessments for pesticides and other products entering the food chain would allow the chemical industry to remain in charge of testing its own products, warned Greenpeace.

However, the Commission wants industry studies submitted to the European Food Safety Authority to be made public. Under current rules, EFSA can only release summaries of the studies that are provided to support a product application.

Greenpeace EU spokesperson Mark Breddy said: "The publication of test results supporting applications for pesticide approvals is the bare minimum. But the Commission is just papering over the cracks. Pesticide producers should not be allowed to control the testing of their own products. As a rule, this should be the job of the EU – not only in controversial cases – and should not be funded by taxpayers but by the companies who want their products approved."

The Commission's attempt to improve EU risk assessments is in response to the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) on the controversial herbicide glyphosate. The ECI demanded that "all studies used to back up regulatory approval of pesticides must be published". The petition also asked that public authorities, not the industry seeking approval for its products, should be in charge of running the studies.

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