In a press release published on February 11, 2019, the European Commission (EC) announced that the European Parliament (EP) and European Council have reached a provisional agreement on the EC’s proposal for revisions to the EU’s General Food Law (FPF reported). Representatives from the EC described the agreement as “a resounding response to the citizens’ concerns over transparency of scientific studies in the area of food,” which they note “has been achieved in less than a year, thanks to committed work and involvement of all institutions.”

In particular, the agreement aims to ensure more transparency by providing citizens with “automatic access to all studies and information submitted by industry in the risk assessment process.” It also targets to increase independence of studies throughout authorization processes by requiring the European Food Safety Authority to be notified of any commissioned studies, therefore avoiding that unfavorable studies go unnoticed.

The proposal was put forward by the EC in April 2018 (FPF reported), and the provisional agreement will now need to be formally adopted by both the EP and the European Council.

Read more

EC (February 11, 2019). “Boosting trust in scientific studies on food safety: Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached today.”

EC (February 11, 2019). “Agreement on the Commission’s proposal on transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment model in the food chain – Questions and Answers.

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