EU risk assessments in food sector: EC launches public consultation on transparency

The European Commission is launching today a public consultation on the transparency and the independence of risk assessments and scientific studies as a follow-up to its response to the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) on glyphosate.  The public consultation is also based on the current evaluation of the General Food Law. The EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis said: "The Commission is fulfilling its commitment made when responding to the ECI and is initiating a process to reinforce the trust in the EU's scientific assessment in the area of food safety. I call on all interested parties – NGOs, stakeholders, public authorities - to contribute to the consultation launched today. This will allow the Commission to table – as promised – a legislative proposal this spring which will address this issue, as well as reinforce the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) governance model and support the long term excellence of its scientific capacity". The consultation will remain open until 20 March 2018 and is available here.