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1.EFSA's anniversary hit by protest over "industry capture" of food safety
2.Campaigners Demand Change at EFSA
3.10th anniversary of the EFSA: Agency must finally meet expectations

EXTRACTS: [EFSA's] showpiece tenth anniversary event was overshadowed by a protest outside the conference venue by farmers, NGOs, students and local activists. They gathered to denounce what they called "the industry-capture of our food safety system..." (item 1)

"EFSA and the European Commission are celebrating EFSA's 10th year anniversary, but we think they better clean up their act and ban industry influence from food safety decisions." - Nina Holland, Corporate Europe Observatory

"EFSA is not fulfilling its mandate to ensure European citizens safe food and safe farming environments. European farmers and peasants demand a radical shift in EFSA's modus operandi." - José Manuel Benitez from Spanish farmers organisation COAG (item 2)

NOTE: There's also a good article on the many problems with EFSA by Carlo Petrini, the founder of the Slow Food movement. It's in Italian but Google Translate will give the gist.
 http://parma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2012/11/13/news/l_assalto_delle_lobby_all_europa_del_buon_cibo-46554170/
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1.EFSA's anniversary hit by protest over 'industry capture' of food safety
Martin Banks
The Parliament, 14 November 2012
www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/efsas-anniversary-hit-by-protest-over-industry-capture-of-food-safety/

Campaigners have demonstrated outside a conference to mark the tenth anniversary of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The conference, at the EFSA headquarters in Parma, Italy, was designed to review the authority's main achievements over the past decade.

Held in conjunction with the commission's health and consumers DG, the conference heard that the creation of EFSA had been a "defining moment" in food safety in which the EU "turned firmly towards science to point the way forward".

However, its showpiece tenth anniversary event was overshadowed by a protest outside the conference venue by farmers, NGOs, students and local activists.

They gathered to denounce what they called "the industry-capture of our food safety system that EFSA plays a key role in".

Campaigners criticised what they call EFSA's "reliance" on industry studies and data to form its scientific advice to the EU institutions.

Citizens and farmers who had gathered at the demonstration called for EFSA to be "fundamentally" reformed.

In particular, they demand change in preventing conflicts of interest and say that EU laws should be overhauled "so that independent bodies test substances, not industry itself".

They also say code of scientific practice should be established and call for improved "transparency and accountability".

The protesters' spokesman, José Manuel Benitez, said, "EFSA is not fulfilling its mandate to ensure European citizens safe food and safe farming environments. European farmers and peasants demand a radical shift in EFSA's modus operandi."

The conference celebrated 10 years of "transparency, independence and scientific excellence" but the campaigners say that EFSA experts and members of its management board have "frequently been shown to have a conflict of interest" with the food and biotech industry.

They argue that after 10 years, EFSA "has not put in place the robust rules needed to effectively ban such conflicts of interest with industry".

Further criticism came from Nina Holland, of the Brussels-based Corporate Europe Observatory group, who said, "We stood on EFSA's doorstep in Parma yesterday to deliver our demands for radical change at the agency in order to really work for food and environmental safety.

"EFSA and the commission are celebrating EFSA's tenth year anniversary, but we think they better clean up their act and ban industry influence from food safety decisions."

Earlier this year, parliament refused to approve EFSA's budget and the European Court of Auditors called EFSA's independence policy "inadequate".

No-one from EFSA was immediately available for comment but, in an EFSA press release, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, its executive director, outlined the "progress Europe has made" in the area of food safety since 2002.

She highlighted "success stories" such as the fight to control BSE and reduce the incidence of salmonella and the "great strides that have been made" on food additives and flavourings, pesticide residues, contaminants in the food chain, and health claims on food labels.

Geslain-Lanéelle said that these achievements had been made possible by the combined efforts of risk assessors and managers as well as a range of 'actors' in the food chain – farmers, retailers, consumer and industry bodies.

"The food chain, increasingly complex, is only as strong as its weakest link," she said, adding that the actors have different roles but all of them were "critical".

She said, "The successes of the past 10 years were made possible by the decision taken in 2002 to separate risk management from risk assessment and to establish a science-based approach. This brought science to centre stage in food policy-making, a position it has retained."

An EFSA spokesman told this website, "EFSA is committed to dialogue with all parties and a representative from the NGO consortium was also invited to attend the conference. EFSA welcomed this opportunity for dialogue with consumers and stakeholders, an opportunity which will help inform EFSA's future developments."

On continuing questions about its independence, he said, "EFSA applies a robust set of internal mechanisms and working processes to safeguard the independence of its scientific work and that of its scientific committee and panels. All its experts are required to sign a declaration of commitment and to provide an annual declaration of interests for each EFSA group of which they are a member.

"EFSA closely monitors and reviews the declarations of all its experts. This policy on independence was discussed with stakeholders and other interested parties at a large conference in Brussels last year."
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2.Campaigners Demand Change at EFSA
Corporate Europe Observatory, November 13 2012
 http://corporateeurope.org/pressreleases/2012/campaigners-demand-change-efsa

Parma – Campaigners today demonstrated outside a conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), held at its headquarters in Parma, Italy. Farmers, NGOs, students and local activists gathered to denounce the industry-capture of our food safety system that EFSA plays a key role in.

José Manuel Benitez from Spanish farmers organisation COAG said: "EFSA is not fulfilling its mandate to ensure European citizens safe food and safe farming environments. European farmers and peasants demand a radical shift in EFSA's modus operandi."

The conference is celebrating 10 years of "transparency, independence and scientific excellence" but the campaigners say that EFSA experts and members of its management board have frequently been shown to have a conflict of interest with the food and biotech industry.

They argue that even after 10 years, EFSA has not put in place the robust rules needed to effectively ban such conflicts of interest with industry.

Nina Holland (Corporate Europe Observatory) said:
"We're standing on EFSA's doorstep in Parma to deliver our demands for radical change at the agency in order to really work for food and environmental safety. EFSA and the European Commission are celebrating EFSA's 10th year anniversary, but we think they better clean up their act and ban industry influence from food safety decisions."

Earlier this year the European Parliament earlier refused to approve EFSA's budget, and the European Court of Auditors called EFSA's independence policy 'inadequate'.

Campaigners also criticise EFSA’s reliance on industry studies and data to form its scientific advice to the EU institutions.

Citizens and farmers gathered in the demonstration call for EFSA to be fundamentally reformed and presented demands for change, supported by a large group of European civil society networks and organisations, in the following areas:

1. Prevent conflicts of interest
2. EU laws should be overhauled so that independent bodies test substances, not industry itself
3. A code of scientific practice should be established
4. Improve transparency and accountability
5. Ensure wider participation

On Monday (12 November), farmers and citizens took part in a conference in Parma to discuss EFSA’s longstanding problems and to consider possible alternative approaches.

Contact:
Luca Colombo, FIRAB, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel: +39 348 39 88 618
Nina Holland, CEO, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., tel: +31 630 285 042
Andrea Ferrante, European Coordination Via Campesina , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel:+393480189221

Pictures of the conference and demonstration are available at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/corporateeuropeobservatory
[some pics also here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.471619316215190.107102.141259772584481&type=1 ]

The detailed demands with the full list of supporting organisations can be read on  http://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/attachments/EFSA-demands-final-12nov.pdf
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3.10th anniversary of the EFSA: Agency must finally meet expectations
The Greens and European Free Alliance in the European Parlimant, 13 November 2012
 http://www.greens-efa.eu/10th-anniversary-of-the-efsa-8523.html

Green MEP Jose Bove has been invited to a conference in Parma, Italy today to mark the 10th anniversary of the General Food Law and the creation of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). The Greens are convinced that more than ever we need a strong and independent agency to ensure the safety of the food of 500 million people.

The current model of European Union funded research is heavily loaded towards bio-technology without ever questioning the usefulness of these new technologies. At the same time, the EFSA simply does not have enough support from the European Commission to carry out its mission to independently assess the real impact of these new technologies on health and on the environment. With its meagre budget it is simply unable to meet all expectations.

As a result, what we see is an astonishing 100% success rate for GMO approvals and conflicts of interest that call into question the independence of EFSA’s safety assessments. The recent study by Seralini et al. detailed disturbing health findings and showed industry testing to be completely inadequate. Equally worrying though was the preliminary opinion from EFSA which amounted to a “cut and paste” of industry arguments trashing the study and did not even consider the acknowledged lack of long term impact studies and the need for these studies to be realised.

The European Commissioners and Heads of Government must act to improve scientific expertise and its independence and plurality, rather than trying to find new ways to allow GMO contaminated products onto the market against the will of the overwhelming majority of Europeans. A good place to start would be to give EFSA the support that is needed for real independent scientific expertise. However, the best risk assessment possible should never be used to impose unwanted technologies or products on citizens and their usefulness for society must be the determining factor in political decision making.