EFSA Management Board Chair Resigns Over ILSI Conflict of Interest

Bánáti was the centre of controversy in 2010 when it was revealed that while chairing the EFSA board she also held an undeclared position on the board of ILSI. Her resignation from EFSA was demanded by José Bové, a French Green MEP, who stated that her ILSI position was in conflict with EFSA's role approving foods in the EU, including genetically modified (GM) organisms.

10 May 2012 --- Diána Bánáti has resigned on 8 May as member and Chair of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), effective immediately. She has decided to take up a professional position at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) which is not compatible with her role as member and Chair of the EFSA Management Board.

Bánáti was the centre of controversy in 2010 when it was revealed that while chairing the EFSA board she also held an undeclared position on the board of ILSI. Her resignation from EFSA was demanded by José Bové, a French Green MEP, who stated that her ILSI position was in conflict with EFSA's role approving foods in the EU, including genetically modified (GM) organisms.

The Code of Conduct adopted by the EFSA Management Board obliges all members to consider possible public perception, in all facets of their professional and private life, in particular with regard to any activities which could raise doubts about their independence, even with respect to potential conflicts of interest. Board members shall not hold positions or interests that are considered incompatible with their role as a Board member and the role of the Board itself. The Code of Conduct stipulates that, given the public character of their function, members shall conduct themselves in a way that maintains and promotes the public’s trust in the Authority.

Diana Banati was appointed for a second mandate as member of EFSA's Management Board for a 4-year term in 2010. It was revealed later that she also held an undeclared position on the board of ILSI, a research and advocacy organization for food science, while chairing the EFSA board. She later resigned from the ILSI post to continue as the EFSA Management Board chairperson.

In a letter to the EFSA Board on May 11 to "set the record straight," Bánáti stressed that she had resigned from the EFSA Board herself rather than this having occurred "on the request of EFSA," as the organization had communicated. "The totally correct decision to resign was mine, and at no point was it necessary for either EFSA nor the European Commission to ask me to resign - and nor did they do so, given that I had already informed them of my intentions," she wrote to the EFSA Board.