Security has been tightened at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, after the agency was targeted with a package containing explosive material two weeks ago.
“Precautionary security measures have been taken including increased control at the gates, expansion of regular security checks to EFSA external members and extra awareness at the EFSA post office where all parcels are already systematically scanned,” an EFSA spokeswoman said.
A suspicious parcel was sent to a scientist who works on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on 7 June containing a small amount of gunpowder material that was enough to cause serious injury.
Police and bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on the device near the EFSA building. Italian police are still trying to ascertain where the parcel originated and the motive of the sender.
No information about the addressee has been released since investigations are ongoing.
The EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said he was “appalled” by the attempt and vowed that “science will not be intimidated”.
In a show of solidarity, a group of scientists across Europe are preparing a letter to send to members of the European Parliament to spell out their backing for the agency’s work.
They will also express their concern about what they see as a wider pattern of such events, and ask politicians to help them counter a general mistrust of experts in Europe.
EFSA reviews the science on pesticides and herbicides and advises the European Commission. Eighteen of its staff currently carry out assessments on GMOs. The agency has been targeted before. Two years ago a group of anti-GM protestors entered its premises, threw smoke bombs and hung up ‘NO GM’ signs.
EFSA drew fire from several scientists and environmental groups in November after it concluded that the weed killer glysophate - which faces a crunch EU vote Friday on whether to relicense it - was unlikely to cause cancer. The judgement ran counter to an earlier opinion by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency employs 460 people and receives almost €80 million annually from Horizon 2020.
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