A new proposal was voted in the European Parliament to allow the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to work more efficiently and transparently.
The proposal, which passed with 427 votes in favour, 172 against, and 67 abstentions aims to make risk assessment more transparent and ensure that the studies used by EFSA to authorise a product to be put on the market are reliable, objective and independent.
In addition, a common European Register of commissioned studies should be set up, to deter companies that are applying for authorisation from holding back unfavourable studies.
Parliament also agreed on a set of criteria to decide what kind of information can be kept confidential, e.g. the trademark under which a product will be marketed or detailed descriptions of preparations.