Board Report 2011/12 Annual General Meeting

Angelika Hilbeck

Chairperson

Madrid, 19 May 2012

1) Planning Meetings

• 10 May 2011: Meeting in Berlin for planning the ENSSER work 2011/12

• 25 Aug 2011: Meeting with ENSSER (board) members in Tromsø to start preparations for the 2012 Hyderabad biosafety conference

• 13 Sep 2011: Meeting with FPH in Paris to discuss next project cycle

• 31 Mar 2011, Brussels, EFSA: Consultative Workshop on Draft Guidance on Selection of Comparators for the Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Plantskey note lecture by Hartmut Meyer, participation of Angelika Hilbeck

• 06 Jul 2011, Salem (DE), GE-Free Region Bodensee: Charity workshop for ENSSER, lecture by Angelika Hilbeck

• 24 Aug 2011, Budapest, Government of Hungary: 23rd Meeting of the GMO Round TableBiosafety issues related to GM seed contamination in Hungary in 2011: Science-based recommendations from ENSSER

• 26 Sep 2011, Berlin, Green Faction of German Parliament: GMO expert round table (with Prof. Carrasco)participation of Hartmut Meyer

2) Events at which (board) membershave represented or promoted ENSSER

• 18 Oct 2011, Brussels, European Commission: Socio-economic dimensions of GMO cultivationparticipation of Brian Wynne

• 20 Oct 2011, Brussels, European Economic and Social Committee: Agricultural biotechnology: genetically modified food and feed in the EUlecture by Angelika Hilbeck

• 10-11 Nov 2011, Madrid, Amigos de la Tierra, CECU, COAG, Ecologistas en Acción, Greenpeace y Plataforma Rural: GMOs in the scientific, agricultural, environmental and healthlectures by Christian Vélot, Rosa Binimelis, Michael Antoniou, Gilles- Eric Séralini, Angelika Hilbeck

2) Events at which (board) membershave represented or promoted ENSSER

• 26 – 29 Mar 2012, London, Planet under Pressure: Organising Session ”Governance of Emerging Technologies”lead: ETC Group, plus CESAGEN, ENSSER, FSC, STEPS, SPEAKS, lecture of Hartmut Meyer

• 29 Mar 2012, Brussels, European Commission: Public Hearing on Environmental Monitoring of GM Cropslecture of Broder Breckling

2) Events at which (board) membershave represented or promoted ENSSER

• Institutional FundingSep 2011: ENSSER could secure funding for 2012/13 at FPH, FPH agreed to increase support from 20,000 to 25,000 EUR per annum

• Intellectual Property Rights and Research RestrictionNov 2011: Prof. Dolder finalises legal opinion on IPR and possible restrictions of risk research, funded by GEKKO Foundation

• Congress on Risks for Public Health & the EnvironmentMay 2012: funded by HDO, EEA, ENSSER and GEKKO Foundation

3) Projects brought forward

• International Biosafety ConferenceSep 2012: cooperation between ENSSER, TWN and Aruna Rodrigues/TARA Foundation- enough funds could have been mobilised to finance

the conference and side-events at MOP-6 inHyderabad

- synergy created with Aruna Rodrigues‘ high-levelworkshops in New Delhi and food securityconference in Hyderabad

3) Projects brought forward

• Environmental Risk Assessment of SmartStax MaizeJul 2011: Project with Swiss BAFUJul 2011: Access to FF RA documents at EFSAAug 2011: Analysis of EFSA documentsSep 2011: Spanish translation of ENSSER statutesSep 2011: Application at Spanish Ministry for

Environment on access to TechnicalDossier of Monsanto’s field trials in Spain

Feb 2012: Technical Dossier receivedApr 2012: Analysis of Technical Dossier

3) Projects brought forward

• Jun 2011: EU ERA project proposal EnSyGMO rejected, ENSSER was project partner

• Aug 2011: Submission of publication ”Framework for a European Network for a systematic environmental impact assessment of genetically modified organisms”

• Oct 2011: Uncovering EuropaBio’s ”Pro GM Ambassador” campaign

• Oct 201: Submission of comments on ”EFSA draft guidance on food and feed from GM animals and GM animal health and welfare”

• Nov 2011: Submission of letter to DG SANCO on deficits in ERA and SEC

4) Other activities

• Feb 2012: Application for EU-project ”ARENASYNBIO”(Mobilisation and Mutual Learning Action Plan)- project lead is with Karita Research in Sweden- ENSSER is lead partner for one work package

• Feb 2012: Press release in 4 language announcing Angelika’s publication and opinion piece on attacks on her Bt maize risk research of 2009

• Mar 2012: Reply of Angelika and Hartmut on pro-GE opinion in major German magazine

4) Other activities

5) Support to Members and Initiatives

Hartmut was supporting several members in writing publications, specifically those who needed to reply on criticism or concerted attacks by promotors of minimal regulation and risk assessment.

Hartmut was working with several members in preparing confernces, working documents, policy documents or outreach to the public.

• Event at UC Berkeley ”40 Years Genetic Engineering – So What?” postponed to early 2013

6) Pending issues & projects

• 57 individual members• 2 institutional member (CRIIGEN, FSC)• 9 applications for individual membership• proposed membership of or cooperation with

other institutions: - Federation of German Scientists (VDW), DE - ClientEarth, BE - Scientists for Global Responsibility (SRG), UK - Genewatch UK - International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), DE

7) ENSSER Members