NOTE: Catherine Geslain-Laneelle, director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has confirmed that EFSA will review Seralini's study on GM NK603 maize and Roundup and decide on its merits.
This is a bit like asking someone accused of a crime to act as judge in his own trial.
EFSA has issued Opinions claiming that NK603 is as safe as non-GM maize. It has also issued an Opinion saying that even short 90-day animal feeding trials on GMOs may not be necessary.
Seralini's study, if taken seriously, forces the conclusion that not only 90-day but 2-year feeding trials must be performed on GMOs.
So EFSA will in effect be reviewing its own opinions on both NK603 and on the need for animal feeding trials for GMO risk assessments.
Interestingly, EFSA's own conflict of interest rules do not permit EFSA experts who currently serve, or have recently served, as national member state experts on GMOs, to give opinions on a GMO for EFSA, since these experts would effectively be reviewing their own decisions made within the member state and that would constitute intellectual conflict of interest ["rules clearly state that scientific experts cannot assess, review or
rate their own work" http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/120305.htm]
In the light of this, it is bizarre that the Commission considers it acceptable for EFSA to effectively review its own decisions on the safety of NK603 and on the consequent need for, and required length of, feeding trials.
There can be only one outcome of this cosy arrangement. EFSA will decide that NK603 is not guilty; that its own opinions were right; and that the guilty party is Professor Seralini.
And, of course, Seralini's rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were apparently acceptable for the thousands of other long and short-term industry studies and independent studies, including industry's carcinogenicity studies that led to the approval of glyphosate, that have used this type of rat. But when Seralini used them in his feeding trial, they miraculously turned into "the wrong rat": http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/51-2012/14217
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GMOs: Acute crisis in Brussels
Created 20-09-2012 at 18:59 – Updated at 20:08
Le Nouvel Observateur
Article in French:
http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/ogm-le-scandale/20120920.OBS3127/ogm-crise-aigue-a-bruxelles.html
English translation (summary) by GMWatch
The dialogue was short between the Director of EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority and Gilles-Eric Seralini, author of the study on GM maize NK603.
Heard by a handful of MEPs in Brussels in the presence of Gilles-Eric Seralini, author of the study on the impact NK603 maize, the director of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) Geslain-Laneelle has confirmed that her agency will review the expertise of the study. But the review will be performed by the same experts who previously gave the green light to the same NK603 maize.
Gilles-Eric Seralini reacted strongly: "There is no question that those who authorized the NK-603 can review our data. There would be a conflict of interest with their authority [EFSA] and their career." Especially, says Dr. Joel Spiroux, co-author of the study, that conflicts of interest were so many in the EFSA and inside the EFSA GMO Panel.
In summary, Gilles-Eric Seralini has agreed to a review by EFSA on condition that its experts are renewed so that they do not have to contradict their own opinions. The director of EFSA does not see it that way. She refuses to renew the experts. Her position is "I'm keeping all of them."
Impasse in Brussels
Corinne Lepage MEP, who is in charge of the Environment Committee at Parliament in Strasbourg, is angry. Especially since EFSA has given a clear refusal to her proposal that EFSA should require lifespan studies on GMOs, like Seralini's.
Corinne Lepage says, "Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle replied that studies three months on a case by case basis were sufficient. This is unacceptable! They are going round in circles!"
The impasse is total as in order to review the study, EFSA needs Gilles-Eric Seralini to give them the raw data of the study. All in all, he prefers an "international expert body" to remove all suspicion [of conflicts of interest].
Anses as referee
The intransigence of the Director of EFSA illustrates the extremely difficult position of Brussels. Between the precautionary principle which governs the European law, international trade rules and pressure from the United States, the path is narrow. Especially as Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault himself hawkishly stated that "If the danger of the GMO NK603 is confirmed, France will defend its ban at European level" – based on the opinion of ANSES (French Food Safety Agency). It's implied that this may contradict EFSA's view.
When the "Nouvel Observateur" announced that following the publication of the study Seralini, the crisis is one of politics, science and public health, we were pretty close to the truth. A Franco-European crisis is looming. Tonight there's the first private screening of Jean-Paul Jaud's film, "All [of us] guinea pigs?", adapted from the book by Gilles-Eric Seralini. It does not take a genius to predict that the tension will be ratcheted up another notch.