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Archives for Science & Policymaking

The Risk-Monger’s Dirty Dozen – 12 highly toxic pesticides approved for use in organic farming

November 12, 2015

  It is commonly believed that organic farmers do not use pesticides and that organic food is therefore safer to consume than conventionally farmed fruit and vegetables. In a UK poll, 95% of the consumers bought organic food because they wanted to avoid consuming pesticides. This belief could not be further from the truth. The… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, blogactiv, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev.

Media Hypocrisy: Marketing Emotions, Ignoring Facts on Cancer Findings

October 30, 2015

As we watch the mainstream media come up with excuses for the IARC monograph that showed, without a shadow of a doubt, that prepared meats and sausages are carcinogenic (Group 1 = carcinogenic), we should take a moment to reflect on why our news sources have become so inconsistent when it comes to reporting on… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, blogactiv, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Innovation and Growth, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Science & Research, Sustainable Dev.

EU fisheries ministers undermine sustainable fishing in the Baltic.

October 26, 2015

Oceana condemns the decision by the EU Fisheries Council on Baltic catch limits for 2016 Today, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the EU reached an agreement on the 2016 total allowable catches (TAC) for the Baltic Sea fish stocks. Regretfully, just like the last year, European ministers have yet again decided to ignore scientific… » read more

  Posted by Oceana Europe

Agriculture & Food, blogactiv, Climate & Environment, EU Priorities 2020, EurActiv.com, Fisheries, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev.

Orphacol: the never-ending story

October 21, 2015

Opened back in 2009, the “Orphacol file” is still not closed, despite three actions at the Court of Justice. What is to blame: the complexity of EU procedures or the Commission’s reluctance to recognise its errors of judgment? Probably a little of both! It is extremely rare to go to the Court of Justice three… » read more

  Posted by Daniel Gueguen

blogactiv, English, EurActiv.com, Health & Consumers, Innovation & Enterprise, Science & Policymaking

The Pesticide Industry’s Moral Dilemma

October 2, 2015

  The agricultural-science world is looking on in horror as countries, regions and retailers are beginning to ban glyphosate, the active ingredient found in Monsanto’s main herbicide, Roundup. These restrictions are not being implemented on scientific grounds (per exposure level, coffee and biscuits are far more toxic than glyphosate) but on the basis of moral… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, blogactiv, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Innovation and Growth, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev., transparency

Activist Creep also Matters. An Open Letter to EFSA Director Hubert Deluyker

September 24, 2015

  Dear Dr Deluyker Today at the Corporate Europe Observatory event in the European Parliament entitled Science vs Lobbying, I asked you a question that you declined to answer. I am not sure whether you had forgotten the question or if EFSA does not yet have a policy on this issue. As I think it… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, blogactiv, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev.

The Top 20 Reasons not to Feed your Family Organic! Part 2

September 10, 2015

  In my previous blog, I introduced 10 reasons why you should not feed your family organic food as a means to open up a rational debate. With these further 10 reasons, I want you to reconsider your position on the use of crop protection substances: Have you been manipulated by good story-tellers? Have the… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, blogactiv, Business & Climate Change, Climate & Environment, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Innovation and Growth, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Science & Research, Sustainable Dev.

The Top 20 Reasons not to Feed your Family Organic! Part 1

  Recently the Mommy-bloggers paid by the organic industry lobby have been hitting the scientific and corporate communities quite hard with fear campaigns and ‘if you love your children’ guilt trips. Money is pouring in from all angles and even Hollywood stars are reading from their prepared scripts: “Pesticides and GMOs = evil”, and “Organic… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, blogactiv, Climate & Environment, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Innovation and Growth, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Science & Research, Sustainable Dev.

EFSA’s Neonicotinoid Scandal, Part II: Illogical, Illegitimate, Illegal 

September 1, 2015

  Last week EFSA released three studies on the foliar (sprayed) applications of three neonicotinoids related to bee health, and the results surprised no one. The only surprising result from their three almost copy-pasted press releases, all concluding lack of sufficient data and a possible risk to bee health, is that the civil servants in… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, blogactiv, EU Treaty & Institutions, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev., transparency

EFSA’s Neonicotinoid Scandal, Part II: Illogical, Illegitimate, Illegal 

EFSA has tried to use an illegitimate bee guidance document to reject the main bee science and push for a further ban on neonicotinoids.

Agriculture & Food, bee field studies, bee field trials, bee guidance document, Clothianidin, DG Santé, EFSA, EU Treaty & Institutions, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Imidacloprid, Miko, neonicotinoids, neonics, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Science & Research, Sustainable Dev., Thiamethoxam, transparency

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Risk Aversion and the Curse of Expediency

August 31, 2015

This is the third part of a series that looked at how emphasising the hazard-based approach to regulations has led to irrational decisions and the rise of the contrapreneur’s agenda to return to some pre-industrial ideal world where we lived risk-free with nature. I ended by questioning how this incoherent policy agenda could succeed in… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, blogactiv, Climate & Environment, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Innovation and Growth, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev.

Risk Aversion and the Curse of Expediency

August 28, 2015

This is the third in a series that looked at how the hazard-based regulatory approach has led to the contrapreneur pushing the precautionary principle to challenge the achievements of entrepreneurs. This irrationality is only possible in a world where …

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, Business & Climate Change, Climate & Environment, contrapreneur, contrapreneurship, expediency, Food & Consumers, hazard-based regulation, Health & Consumers, Innovation and Growth, precaution, precautionary principle, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev.

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The Growing Risk of Contrapreneurs

  Let me start this follow-up blog with some definitions: Entrepreneur: One who takes risks, creates opportunities and seeks to innovate and solve problems Contrapreneur: One who is risk averse, creates fears and seeks to inhibit innovation (identified as the cause of problems) In yesterday’s blog, we considered how the strategy of pushing for hazard-based… » read more

  Posted by The Risk-Monger

Agriculture & Food, blogactiv, Climate & Environment, Energy, EU Priorities and Opinion, Food & Consumers, Health & Consumers, Innovation & Enterprise, Innovation and Growth, Public Affairs, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev.

The Growing Risk of Contrapreneurs

An expedient policy process relying on precaution and hazard-based regulations has allowed contrapreneurs to cement their anti-innovation strategy at the heart of Brussels

Agriculture & Food, BioTech, Business & Climate Change, Climate & Environment, contrapreneur, contrapreneurship, Energy, entrepreneur, EU Priorities and Opinion, expediency, expedient, Food & Consumers, hazard-based regulation, Health & Consumers, Innovation & Enterprise, Innovation and Growth, precaution, precautionary principle, Public Affairs, risk assessment, Risk-based regulation, Science & Policymaking, Science & Research, Sustainable Dev.

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Risk-based or Hazard-based Regulation

August 27, 2015

What is the difference between the risk-based regulatory approach and a hazard-based one? Why is it that hazard-based activists are so successful in pushing such an unrealistic approach?

Agriculture & Food, ALARA, BioTech, Climate & Environment, Energy, EU Priorities 2020, Food & Consumers, hazard-based regulation, Health & Consumers, Innovation & Enterprise, Innovation and Growth, mobile phones, Pesticides, pharmaceuticals, precaution, precautionary principle, Public Affairs, Risk-based regulation, Science & Policymaking, Science & Research, Sustainable Dev., Transport & Services

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