NOTE: You are invited to an exciting debate in the European Parliament, Brussels about the role of independent science in regulatory decision-making in the cases of risky products like GM foods, pesticides, chemicals, and food additives. At the moment, independent science is pretty much ignored in risk assessments. Participants in this debate want to change that.

EU regulatory bodies EFSA and DG SANCO have been invited to send speakers.

If you intend to come, please register online here:
http://www.alde.eu/event-seminar/events-details/article/independence-of-science-in-regulatory-decision-making-37700/ 

Please forward this email to scientists, civil society organisations, and members of the public who may be interested.
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Independence of science in regulatory decision-making
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Invitation to a conference-debate
Hosted by MEPs Corinne Lepage and Antonya Parvanova (ALDE)
9 November 2011
European Parliament, Brussels – Room ASP5G1

The public is reassured by industry and governments that risky products like pesticides, chemicals, and genetically modified foods are strictly regulated. But approvals for such products depend on a few limited studies, paid for by the same companies that stand to profit from the product’s approval and sale. As well as having an inherent bias, industry studies are often old and outdated. Often, they are unpublished and commercially confidential, meaning that they cannot be evaluated by independent scientists or the public.

At the same time, regulators ignore or dismiss large numbers of peer-reviewed independent studies in their assessments of risky products even though such studies are less likely to be biased, are of better quality, and use the latest scientific methods and insights. Regulators rely instead on small numbers of industry studies that are claimed to show safety. This has been the case with aspartame, genetically modified foods, bisphenol A, and glyphosate/Roundup.

In sum, science has separated into two diverging strands: industry science and independent science. While billions of Euros of taxpayer money is poured into independent research, it is still not properly taken into account in regulatory assessments.

The EU Parliament and Council have made progress in addressing the problem. They passed a new pesticide regulation stating that assessments will no longer rely solely on industry studies. The regulation forces regulators to take account of independent science.

But an EFSA Guidance has compromised the new regulation, enabling industry to dismiss any independent study it wishes on the grounds that it is not "relevant" or "reliable". The loopholes in this Guidance are reinforced by the draft data requirements of DG SANCO, which, if adopted, could undermine the intent of the new regulation to protect public health and the environment.

Independent scientists and civil society groups are fighting to make the voice of independent science heard in public health and environmental regulation. But each individual or group is fighting their own corner no one is addressing the bigger picture. This is in spite of the fact that the crisis in independent science crosses over into many areas that directly affect the public from food quality to public health and environmental sustainability.

This conference-debate will draw the different threads of the issue together and come up with ways we can place independent science back where it belongs at the centre of regulatory decision-making.

MEPs Corinne Lepage and Antonya Parvanova (ALDE)
Independence of science in regulatory decision-making
Invitation to a conference-debate
9 November 2011
European Parliament – Room ASP5G1
Language: English with interpretation into French
15.00 17.30 hours

Draft programme
15.00: Opening by MEPs Corinne Lepage and Antonya Parvanova
15.15: Dr Fiorella Belpoggi, Director, Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Centre, Ramazzini Institute, Bentivoglio, Italy: The cases of aspartame and the fungicide mancozeb as examples of the problem of independent science being ignored in regulatory assessments
15.30: Dr John Fagan, Director, Earth Open Source, London, UK: The horizontal problem (BPA, GMOs, glyphosate)
15.40: Claire Robinson, Researcher, Earth Open Source: Proposals to put independent science at the centre of regulatory decision-making
15.45 EFSA (tbc)
16.00: Dr Eric Poudelet, Director for safety of the food chain, DG SANCO
16.15: Debate
17.15: Summing up by MEPs Corinne Lepage and Antonya Parvanova
17.30: End