The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Commission explained at length and stoutly defended on Thursday 12 April the system for authorising pesticides in the EU and affirmed that the legal framework in place had been scrupulously followed in the renewal of the authorisation of the glyphosate licence.
When faced with the barrage of questions from the European Parliament’s PEST special committee, beginning its efforts to get to the bottom of how pesticides are authorised in the EU, the representatives of the two institutions acknowledged, however, that the procedure could be improved.
The meeting gave Bernard Url, EFSA Executive Director, an opportunity to explain the various stages of the risk assessment procedure, a task devolved to the institution he leads as the pivotal body of the food safety system, before the Commission, which is responsible for risk management, proposes whether or not to authorise.
At this stage in their work, the parliamentarians focused their questions on the transparency and independence of the assessment and many issues remain to be elucidated, notably on cocktails of pesticides and the independence of the studies conducted by industry into its own products.
Éric Andrieu, chair of the special committee, acknowledged as much following the inaugural meeting. In nine months’ time, in December of this year, the committee will bring forward recommendations on how to improve the system.
“It was a very productive meeting, even though some issues remain outstanding. I thank the Commission and EFSA for answering in such great detail. We have a common cause in delivering on the health needs of 500 million citizens”, he told the press, welcoming the potential contribution of the proposed reform of the legislation on transparency and the risk assessment process with regard to foodstuffs, presented by the Commission the previous day.
Andrieu announced that the special committee is to send a delegation to Parma, where EFSA is based, to take forward the investigations.
The next working meeting will take place on 26 April and will be given over to national-level considerations, with the representatives of the competent national authorities of Sweden, the United Kingdom and France being invited. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)