182,974 of 250,000 signatures

To the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament

Petition

We urge you to enable real transparency in EU food safety decisions by publishing the data received from industry to evaluate the toxicity of their products in full, as soon as the EU receives it, before the products are put on the EU market. This much-needed transparency will finally allow for independent scientific scrutiny of crucial public decisions, putting an end to a secrecy that has allowed dangerous products to stay on the market and has fuelled public mistrust in food safety decisions.

Why is this important?

The European Parliament, Commission, and Council are meeting to negotiate the final proposal that could result in the toxic weedkiller glyphosate becoming banned in the EU, by making previously-secret industry studies available to the public. [1]

During our struggle to ban glyphosate last year, scientific studies were key. The pesticide industry said it had studies demonstrating that glyphosate was "safe” - but kept them secret from citizens and independent scientists alike. The EU allowed the use of glyphosate for another five years - on the basis of these secret industry studies. [2]

Just in December the European Parliament voted for strong legislation that would end this kind of secrecy. Industry players had been lobbying our MEPs hard to derail the proposal. Now it’s time for the EU institutions to negotiate for a final agreement: If all of us join the call, we can still tip the scale in safety’s favour.

The proposed change to the General Food Law regulation is an ambitious departure from the industry-favoured procedures that currently exist in the EU. If this legislation passes, we’ll finally have the tools to challenge the likes of Bayer/Monsanto when glyphosate and other dangerous chemicals come up for approval in the EU.

The next EU decision on glyphosate is coming up fast. If we win this legislation, we can get the EU to publish the safety tests that Monsanto – now Bayer – will submit this year in order to get the EU’s green light for glyphosate. Once we have these tests, we can hire the best independent scientists to analyse them! If we want to stop glyphosate for good, we need to see the studies that industry wants to keep secret.

Image: Maasaak, Wikimedia Commons


References:

  1. http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/successful/details/follow-up/2017/000002/en?lg=en https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL:ST_8518_2018_INIT&from=EN
  2. http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/documents/3496/DS_Annex.pdf
    https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/civil-society-questions-europes-perfect-pesticide-authorisation-system/

Please can you chip in?

Our WeMove community has been campaigning for years to increase transparency in our food system. These EU negotiations are one more step to changing the status quo on how potentially-dangerous chemicals are approved in the EU. Together, we are all part of that change.

But effective campaigns need funding, and to be ready to mobilise and put pressure when and where it’s most needed, we need the stability and flexibility that only small regular donations from WeMove community members like yourself can provide.

Can you chip in each month and help the struggle for transparency continue?

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