Conflict of interest within Scientific Committees

The request was successful.

Dear Health and Consumers (SANCO),

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents relating to DG SANCO's Scientific Committees, in particular those relating to Chapter V of the Rules of Procedure for the Scientific Committees on Consumer Safety (SCCS), Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) amd Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR), April 2013.

Please provide documents which contain the following information:

- any reference to instances of the declaration of an existence of a conflict of interest made by a member, scientific advisor or external expert participating in the meeting of the Scientific Committees or in a Working Group or in any other activity of the Advisory structure relating to "any activity, situation, circumstance or other fact potentially involving a direct or indirect interest", as outlined in Chapter V, Paragraph 23, that occurred between the period 19 February 2009 until the present day.

- any enactment of Chapter V, Paragraph 25 which states "the Secretariat shall draw the Commission's attention to all cases where it appears that a member, Advisor or expert might have ceased to fulfil the requirement to act independently from any external influence and address the measures to be taken, included as appropriate, the revocation of his/her appointment", as well as any documentation regarding the response of the Commission to the above mentioned instances, that occurred between the period 19 February 2009 until the present day.

- any reference to the exclusion from activities (temporary or permanent) of a member, Advisor or external expert following the assessment that they may not be able to act independently, as outlined in Chapter V, Paragraph 26, that occurred between the period 19 February 2009 until the present day.

- any additional reference to "conclusions and decisions taken in relation to the declarations of interest, as well as their rationale" as outlined in Chapter V, paragraph 27, that occurred between the period 19 February 2009 until the present day.

Yours faithfully,

Leonie Hogervorst

Health and Food Safety

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

This is an acknowledgment of your receipt herebelow. It has been registered 9 December under reference GESTDEM 2013/6190.
In accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, you will receive a reply within 15 working days (09/01/2014).

Yours faithfully,

Barbara WILSKI
Administrative Coordination Assistant for Access to Documents

Directorate General Health and Consumers (SANCO)

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Health and Food Safety

2 Attachments

Dear Mrs Hogervost,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 6/12/2013.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your request. Your application will be
handled within 15 working days.

The time limit will expire on 09/01/2014 In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

Elisabeth Lance
Secretary
 
[1]cid:image001.gif@01CEB540.C035D190
European Commission
DG Health and Consumers

Unit C2 – Health Information

L-2920 Luxembourg

Tel: +352 4301 35369

Email: [2][email address]

           [3][email address]

           [email address]

Website: [4]http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...

[5]cid:image002.png@01CEB540.C035D190

 

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...

Health and Food Safety

2 Attachments

Dear Mrs Hogervost,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 6/12/2013.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your request. Your application will be
handled within 15 working days.

The time limit will expire on 09/01/2014 In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Elisabeth Lance
Secretary
 
[1]cid:image001.gif@01CEB540.C035D190
European Commission
DG Health and Consumers

Unit C2 – Health Information

L-2920 Luxembourg

Tel: +352 4301 35369

Email: [2][email address]

           [3][email address]

           [4][email address]

Website: [5]http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...

[6]cid:image002.png@01CEB540.C035D190

 

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...

Health and Food Safety

1 Attachment

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

Please find enclosed a reply to your request for access to documents.

Yours sincerely,

Véronique Michel
On behalf of Stefan Schreck
Head of the Health Information Unit

European Commission
Directorate-General for Health and Consumers
Health Information Unit

HTC 03/074
L-2920 Luxembourg

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Health and Food Safety

Registration number :
Ares(2014)209920

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

We refer to your e-mail dated 6/12/2013 in which you made a request for
access to documents. We also refer to our first reply from 9/01/2014.

 

Regarding your request about the enactment of Chapter V, paragraphs 25
and 26, we want to let you know that our reply is submitted for signature
and will reach you within a few days. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause.

 

Kind regards

 

Tapani Piha
Head of Unit 

 

 

Health and Food Safety

Registration number :
Ares(2014)209920

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

We refer to your e-mail dated 6/12/2013 in which you made a request for
access to documents. We also refer to our first reply from 9/01/2014.

 

Regarding your request about the enactment of Chapter V, paragraphs 25
and 26, we want to let you know that our reply is submitted for signature
and will reach you within a few days. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause.

 

Kind regards

 

Tapani Piha
Head of Unit 

 

 

Health and Food Safety

Registration number :
Ares(2014)209920

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

We refer to your e-mail dated 6/12/2013 in which you made a request for
access to documents. We also refer to our first reply from 9/01/2014.

 

Regarding your request about the enactment of Chapter V, paragraphs 25
and 26, we want to let you know that our reply is submitted for signature
and will reach you within a few days. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause.

 

Kind regards

 

Tapani Piha
Head of Unit 

 

 

Health and Food Safety

11 Attachments

Dear Leonie Hogervorst,

Please find attached a partial reply signed by our Director General Mrs
Testori Coggi.

Kind Regards,

SANCO-CONSULT-D3

Dear Health and Consumers (SANCO),

First of all, thank you for the documents provided, they give us very useful information.

To be sure, could you please confirm that the two instances discussed in the provided documents are the only flagged potential Conflicts of Interests that happened since February 2009? If so, what would your response be to the following oral declarations made in meetings of the Scientific Committees or their Working Groups recorded since March 2013:

- SCENIHR plenary meeting 25 June 2013: "One member did not take part in discussion of BPA opinion (Wolfgang Dekant) as a potential risk of conflict of interest had been identified" (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...)

- SCCS Working Group on Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products meeting 25 November 2013: "No potential risk of conflict of interest was declared. Issue of co-authoring of scientific literature was raised and identified as no risk. One expert declared he will participate in 2014 as a trainer in risk assessment training and no conflict of interest was identified as this will be for a governmental authority outside the EU" (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...)

- SCCS Working Group on Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products meeting 31 May: "One of the members will not participate in discussion regarding one of the submitted file since this member took part to a research project funded by a private company that could lead to a perception of potential risk of conflict of interest" (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_co...)

Yours faithfully,

Leonie Hogervorst

Health and Food Safety

1 Attachment

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

 

Please find attached the reply signed by Head of Unit C2 Stefan Schreck.

 

Kind regards,

 

Scientific Committees Secretariat

 

 

 

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Dear Health and Consumers (SANCO), Mr Schreck,

Thank you for your reply. I would like to ask you to clarify your response, in which you say that the orally declared potential conflicts of interest were not included in the reply to the request for access to documents because they are publicly available on the website. Does this therefore mean that no other correspondence within DG SANCO has taken place on the cases of these potential conflicts of interest - the orally made declarations recorded in the minutes are the only communication that exists about these cases?

Thank you in advance for your reply,

Yours faithfully,

Leonie Hogervorst

Health and Food Safety

1 Attachment

Dear Mrs Hogervorst,

Please find attached the reply signed by Head of Unit C2 Stefan Schreck.

Kind regards,


Scientific Committees Secretariat

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