1.European Parliament cracks down on EFSA
2.EU commission: OK for Monsanto lobbyist to run food regulator
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1.European Parliament cracks down on EFSA
CEO, March 28 2012
http://www.corporateeurope.org/blog/european-parliament-cracks-down-efsa

Debates on EFSA's budget and management board in the Environment and Budget committees of the European Parliament have demonstrated that MEPs remain critical of how conflicts of interest are dealt with by EFSA and by the European Commission.

On 27 March, the Budget committee voted on an excellent report by MEP Monica Luisa Macovei (PPE, Romania), proposing to postpone the approval of the 2010 budget of the European Food Safety Authority. Macovei stated that "conflicts of interest could .. have a negative impact on the impartiality of the decision-making process and also on the citizens' trust in the institutions". The vote in Plenary is scheduled on 10 May 2012. 

Corinne Lepage MEP (ALDE), a vocal critic of EFSA, said: "European agencies must immediately put an end to conflicts of interest that undermine democracy, their work and credibility of European decisions. They must define measures much stringency with controls and sanctions, to prevent private interests influence their work to serve the public interest.”

All amendments by Lepage, Parvanova (ALDE) and Staes (Greens), were adopted. Importantly, the amendments ask EFSA to consider participation in ILSI (International Institute of Life Sciences, group, an industry lobby group) task forces by panel members to be a conflict of interests. Many EFSA panel members have such links with ILSI. And EFSA should not only rely on industry studies when assessing the risks of a product, but also take into account independent research.

The postponement would allow the Parliament to take into account the report by the European Court of Auditors on conflicts of interest at EFSA, expected to be published in the second quarter of this year.

Nor does the Parliament go along with the European Commission’s idea to propose the chief food industry lobbyist for FoodDrinkEurope (FDE, previously called CIAA) and ex-Monsanto employee Mella Frewen as a candidate for the EFSA management board. The EFSA management board composition is entirely in the hands of the EU institutions, and the Parliament is asked for its opinion.

In a unanimous decision, the political groups decided to reject Frewen’s candidacy. Richard Seeber (Germany, PPE) said in ‘Die Presse’: “We reached agreement across all political groups that we don’t support this lady’s candidacy, because we assume that her closeness to Monsanto will inhibit her objectiveness”. Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said in EU Observer that Frewen was nominated "based on capability”. But Frewen is trained as a marine biologist, not in food safety. In response to a question by Corporate Europe Observatory, the Commission replied that Frewen's employment with Monsanto was not relevant "since it ended five years ago". 

EFSA’s founding regulation states that four members in the board should have a "background in organisations representing consumers and other interests in the food chain". But since EFSA is supposed to be the ‘independent voice of science’ and board members are supposed to act on personal title and in the public interest, nominating someone like Frewen is a completely irrational move.

The European Commission will start a revision of the founding regulation later this year, and a change of management board composition will be high on the agenda of civil society groups.

Resources: 
Letter from Commission on Management Board (pdf)
http://bit.ly/HgiLb5
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2.EU commission: OK for food lobbyist to run food regulator
Andrew Rettman
EU Observer, 8 March 2012
http://euobserver.com/18/115532

BRUSSELS – The European Commission has defended its choice of a food industry lobbyist to help run its food regulator, the European Food Safety Agency (Efsa) in Parma, Italy.

The commission on 10 February chose Mella Frewen – the president of Brussels-based lobby group FoodDrinkEurope, who previously worked for Monsanto, a US producer of genetically modified food – as one of 14 candidates to join the Efsa management board.

If selected by a European Parliament jury in the next few weeks, she will keep her FoodDrinkEurope post while doing the unpaid Efsa job.

Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said Frewen went forward "based on capability" and under an Efsa rubric which says the board should have people with a "background in organisations representing consumers and other interests in the food chain."

Efsa spokesman Ian Palombi said the board runs day-to-day internal business, but the scientific panels that decide which products get the green light are composed of "independent experts."

For her part, Lisa McCooey, FoodDrinkEurope communications director, said she does not see a conflict of interest: "If elected onto the board of Efsa ... Mrs. Frewen would partake in its work in a personal capacity and not on behalf of any interests – industry or otherwise."

McCooey added that Frewen wants the job due to her "personal interest" in Efsa as a "scientist." Frewen has a masters in marine ecology from the National University of Ireland.

The commission nomination was brought to light by pro-transparency NGO Corporate Europe Observatory. The group's Nina Holland said that if picked Frewen will replace outgoing board member Matthias Horst, a top lobbyist for German food producers.

"It's a bit more than having 'a background in the food industry' – that's a being a food lobbyist. It's a very strange set-up," she noted. "The board decides on Efsa's work programme and on internal rules, like conflict of interest, and also who is on the scientific panels. It has a lot of power," she added.

Efsa on Monday (5 March) published new rules on the 'independent' panels after attracting controversy last year.

A report by German paper Suddeutsche Zeitung noted that one Efsa panelist who worked for Kraft Foods, Albert Flynn, was involved in getting a positive decision for a Kraft Foods claim. Another panelist, Carlo Agostoni, was paid by food companies Nestle, Danone, Heinz, Hipp, Humana and Mead Johnson to speak at conferences .

In a separate Efsa panel dealing with the health impact of chemicals used by the food industry, 10 out of 13 experts had industry links.

The Court of Auditors is to issue a report on conflict of interest at Efsa and three other EU bodies by the end of June. Monica Macovei, an MEP tasked with looking into how the agencies spend their money, has threatened not to sign off Efsa's accounts if the findings are negative.