Biotechnology

Food 21: Implications for public health?

The High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry has published its report online at the DG Enterprise website. EPHA participated in the process which began in 2008, and has made a concerted effort to make the resulting document as public health-friendly as possible. As a follow-up to the study "Competitiveness of the European Food Industry: an economic and legal assesment," the first meeting of the High Level Group took place on 12 June 2008, with the task of (...)

EFSA’s consultation and opinion on animal cloning

EFSA has a published draft opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare and the environment. This article has been updated with news concerning the European Parliament motion for resolution on the cloning of animals for food supply and with news on the delay of EFSA’s final opinion EFSA’s public consultation on animal cloning EFSA has held a public consultation on its draft scientific opinion on the implications of animal cloning on (...)

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) sits on the fence in final scientific opinion on animal cloning.

EFSA published its final scientific opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare and the environment. Prof. Vittorio Silano, chair of EFSA’s Scientific Committee presented the opinion of EFSA on 24 July 2008. Prof. Silano stated that for some animals there is no clear safety risk from cloned animals but went on to say that more data needs to be accumulated on the subject before it could make any serious judgment on the safety of cloned (...)

High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry, June 2008

DG Industry and Commissioner Verheugen set up a High Level Group (HLG) in May 2008 to increase the competitiveness of the Agro Food Industry. The HLG is composed mainly of representatives of the European Agro-Food industry, Member States and related interest groups. EPHA was asked to represent the public health community on the group and is one of two NGO reprensentatives - together with BEUC representing European consumers - on the industry-dominated group. Background In November 2007 a (...)

*Update with the Environment Ministers Council* Agreement on GMO approval overhaul

The EU environment ministers have supported a proposal from France to overhaul EU’s approval process for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). *Update* On 20 October 2008, EU environment ministers continued to disagree on whether Member States should be allowed to establish GMO-free zones for sensitive areas, although they did concur on the need for better long-term environmental risk assessment of GMOs. On the 5th of June 2008, the EU environment ministers decided that risk (...)

An international informal debate on ethics and science

Members of national forums and the European Group in Ethics (EGE) met last February during the 11th Forum of National Ethics Council (NEC) at Brdo, Slovenia. The Forum was organized by the European Commission and the Slovenian National Medical Ethics committee, and provided for an international informal debate in the field of ethics and science. The leading theme of the NEC Forum was the Freedoms and Rights of the individuals in competition with the interests of the society. The meeting (...)

European Agency for Health and Safety at Work: review of progress made in 2006

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) has published its annual report for 2006. The report outlines three main areas of progress: reinforcement of the agency’s tripartite governance structure; communication on occupational safety and health; and scientific research on emerging risks. In 2006, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) strengthened its tripartite governance structure and network by involving workers, employers and governments more (...)

***Updated*** A European database on medicinal products: EudraPharm

EudraPharm is the name of the public database launched by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) to facilitate access to information about medicines available in the European Union. This article was updated to include information about new languages. The EudraPharm database is designed to give on-line access to information about all medicinal products for human or veterinary use that have been authorised in the European Union (EU). It includes the summary of product characteristics, package (...)

Clinical Trials: has the EU directive helped to reduce red tape?

A report from Cancer Research UK (an EPHA member) published recently argues that the EU Clinical trials directive has had a counter-productive effect on clinical trials. The 2004 European Union Clinical Trials Directive (2004/23/EC) was thought to harmonise standards across the EU, hence cutting red tape for international groups to work together. Unfortunately, the report shows that the directive is implemented slightly differently in each Member States, which implies that red tape is not (...)

Current EU research policy

The European Commission’s Directorate General on Research publicly launched the 7th European Research Programme (FP7) at a conference held by the German Presidency in Bonn on January 15-16, 2007. The 7th Research Framework Programme will run from 2007-2013. The first calls for proposals under FP7 were issued on 22 December 2006. Information days for potential applicants were held across the EU during February 2007 (including one in Brussels on the 7-8 February attended by Silvia (...)