Speakers

Alex Krick
CIBE
Alex Krick is an agronomist (B. Agr. Sc. & M. Sc. Agr. UCD, Ireland). Between 1984 and 1989, he worked on various farms (arable crops & livestock, conventional and organic) in Ireland. Between 1989 and 1991, he worked for the Irish NGO Concern’s agricultural development section in Sudan’s Whie Nile Province (improved storage of millet and sorghum, soil conservation via tree planting). Since September 1992, he has been working for the International Confederation of European Beet Growers (CIBE), now as Deputy General Secretary. He deals with all aspects of sugar beet, liaising between member associations as well as with beet research institutes and breeders on topical issues, including notably the challenge of the shrinking toolbox of effective crop protection tools. In this context, he also monitors relevant policy developments (e.g. NGTs, SUD/SUR).
Alice Hancock
Financial Times
Alice Hancock covers energy, climate and agricultural policy in Brussels for the FT. She was previously leisure industries reporter based in London reporting on hospitality, tourism and leisure during Covid. Before joining the FT, Alice was the staff writer and online editor for Homes & Antiques.
Amelie Deredjan
Bayer
I hold a pHD in environmental microbiology. I spent five years in research at the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), where I investigated the impact of agricultural practices on soil microorganisms, focusing on antibiotic resistance selection. I started my career in regulatory affairs for plant protection products at Bayer CropScience, first as country regulatory manager. Then I moved to a position of European Regulatory Manager, leading registration process of both conventional and bio-pesticides, especially micro-organism-based products. With now 10 year experience in this regional role, what always motivates me is to provide EU growers with innovative solutions, which are safe for users, consumers and the environment. I am chair of the Product Authorization Expert group (PAEG) in CLE since 2022.
Andrew Whyte
ADAMA
Andrew Whyte is a Global Regulatory Affairs Manager for ADAMA based in the UK. Andrew worked for Dow AgroSicences which later became Corteva in EMEA regulatory roles before joining ADAMA in 2020. He is the CropLife Europe chair of both the electronic submissions expert group (eSEG) and the sub-team on General Food Law, as well as a member of the CLE Regulatory Policy team. Andrew has significant experience in the evolution of IUCLID in the context of 1107/2009. He has participated as an industry nominee in; the initial pilot programme, the roll out of “Hypercare” for early IUCLID applicants as well as currently a member representing CropLife Europe on the EFSA Pesticide Steering Network (PSN) – IUCLID sub-group.
Anne Alix
Corteva
Anne Alix worked in the area of plant protection products risk assessment for 22 years. After a PhD in Integrated Pest Management at the University of Rennes, Anne joined the French National Institute on Research in Agronomy (INRA) as an ecotoxicologist in the scientific unit for the risk assessment of crop protection products. Anne was nominated head of the Environment and Ecotoxicology risk assessment unit at the French Agency on the safety of Food (AFSSA, now ANSES), where she initiated scientific collaborations with the pesticide unit of EFSA. Anne then joined the French Ministry of Agriculture as the deputy head of the Section for Regulation of Plant Protection Products and fertilizers, in charge of the implementation of risk mitigation measures for pesticides and of post registration monitoring. Anne joined Dow AgroSciences, now Corteva Agriscience, in 2011, and is Regulatory Affairs and Risk Management Leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Anne Steenbergh
CTGB
Anne Steenbergh is a policy advisor in the area of sustainability at Ctgb (the Dutch board for the authorisation of plant protection products and biocides). Her work focuses on innovative application techniques and biopesticides. She obtained her PhD in microbial ecology researching biogeochemistry of marine sediments and has a background in the e-fate assessment of plant protection products.
Aymeric Berling
DG AGRI
Aymeric Berling is an agricultural engineer, specialised in plant protection. He started in the French Plant Protection Service in various positions in laboratories, diagnosis, trials and international affairs. He then joined the European Commission in the Plant Health Inspectorate, carrying out audit missions in Member States on quarantine inspections. In 1999, he joined DG Agriculture where he carried out audits of the CAP expenditure for the newly established agri-environmental measures, then later broadened as the Rural Development policy of the CAP. Aymeric then moved to work on the newly established cross-compliance system making the link between CAP payments and other policies in the field of environment, public, plant and animal health as well as animal welfare. He then worked on the more general greening of the CAP during several years. He works now on the new system of social conditionality and on the link between the CAP and the pesticides policy.
Birgit Neumann
Bayer
Dr. Birgit Neumann has been leading Regulatory Toxicology for crop protection solutions at Bayer AG since 2019. After graduation in Chemistry at the University of Hamburg she did her research thesis in Environmental Analytics at the Helmholtz Research Centre in Geesthacht. In 1999, she joined Bayer AG as a lab leader for plant and animal metabolism studies. In the following years she held several positions within Environmental and Human Safety functions within Bayer AG gaining a broad perspective on safety data generation and risk assessments for agrochemicals and related products. This was followed by other positions within Regulatory Science including Head of Metabolism and Kinetics lab unit before she took over her current role.
Bruno Menne
Copa-Cogeca
Bruno Menne is the Director of the Commodities team at Copa and Cogeca, an agricultural umbrella organisation representing over 65 national farm organisations and cooperatives in Europe. In addition to the Commodities team, his portfolio includes more specifically arable crops and the sustainable food systems. Bruno holds a master degree in International Public Management from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, and a master in Public Administration with a specialization EU affairs from the Université Catholique De Louvain La Neuve. Prior to joining the Copa-Cogeca Secretariat in Brussels in 2020, He worked as a Policy Officer for three years at the organization Safe Food Advocacy Europe, a Brussels based organization defending consumers interests in all EU legislation related to food.
Chloé De Lentdecker
EFSA
I am graduated as pharmacist from the Paris XI University in France and have a master degree in human health risk assessment. I had worked as toxicologist for 9 years on biocides risk assessment for active substances and products. I also had the opportunity to work on activities linked to REACh regulation and contributed to the drafting of CLH reports. I worked for the French Agency for food, environmental and occupational health safety (Anses), first as a scientific assessor and then as deputy head of the toxicology unit in charge of human health related to biocide regulation. During this period, I was a core member of the ECHA’s Biocidal Product Committee in the human health working group where the assessment of the biocidal active substances is discussed. In February 2016, I joined the scientific coordination team in the Pesticides Peer Review Unit in European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Christian Prohaska
AGES
I studied at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (Vienna) Food- and Biotechnology (1984 – 1993). From 1994 to 2000 I worked for different public bodies dealing with various risk assessment issues in the field of plant protection products (risk assessment for consumer; evaluation of plant protection products with respect to residue behaviour; fate and behaviour of plant protection products in the environment with respect to drinking water contamination). In 2000, I completed a postgraduate program in toxicology at the Medical University Vienna. In 2002, I started to work in the field of toxicology at AGES (deputy head of department of toxicology). By 2005, I became head of the Department of Residue Behaviour and Physchem Properties at AGES. I am chair of EU Commission WG “post approval issues” and the Interzonal Steering Committee.
D’Arcy Quinn
CropLife International
Mr. Quinn began his anti-counterfeiting career with the French food group Danone by eliminating counterfeiting factories in North Africa and Asia. He was Legal Counsel for Merck Sharp & Dohme in the Middle East/Africa, dealing with counterfeit medicines and coordinated global anti-counterfeiting investigations for the Pharmaceutical Security Institute. For the manufacturer of Marlboro and L&M he reduced the Russian rate of counterfeit cigarettes from 17% to less than one percent and oversaw police raids of twenty-two illegal cigarette factories in the ex-Soviet Union. Mr. Quinn, a lawyer, is a member of the State Bar of California. Currently Mr. Quinn advises multinational agrochemical companies, law enforcement, and governments about counterfeit and illegal pesticides, on behalf of CropLife International.
Delphine Barthes
Bayer
Delphine Barthes is Head of technologies and Filed Operations EMEA with in the R&D Organisation at Bayer. She leads Bayer Field Solutions’ digital strategy across EMEA. Developing, Tools, frameworks that foster enhanced decision-making and operational excellence across all field activities. Delphine in accountable to define key capabilities in field automation that will transform our operations and accelerate fields’ digital transformation journey; Leading regionally bio-dossiers production for submission in EMEA, Delphine acts as the Bayer Crop life representative for Efficacy sub group and for Precision application digital group. By education Delphine is a Chemist she joined Bayer in 2020in her current role, before joining Bayer she held various position as Strategic VP, Sales and Operations Director in leading international companies in Pharmaceutical and Chemical sectors. Delphine has had several involvement in ecosystems gathering stakeholders from privates and public institutions in Innovation and sustainable solutions. « I am convinced that innovation and collaboration are the essential foundations for performance, transformation and sustainable value creation »
Dirk Inzé
Ghent University and the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB)
Dirk Inzé is a global leader in plant biology. His research ambition is to obtain a holistic understanding of the molecular networks regulating plant organ growth and crop productivity. His work has opened up new perspectives for providing food security for the growing world population in a changing climate. Dirk Inzé received his PhD at Ghent in 1984. In 1990, he was appointed Research Director of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), where he initiated highly successful research programs on the plant cell cycle and growth control. In 1995, he became Professor at Ghent University and he was the scientific founder of the biotechnology company CropDesign, which was established in 1998 and acquired in 2006 by BASF Plant Science. In 2002, Dirk was appointed Director of the Center for Plant Systems Biology of the VIB. Under his directorship, the Center – currently employing approximately 300 individuals – became one of the world leading centers for advanced plant sciences. Dirk’s research was recognized by numerous awards and he is a member of several science advisory boards. He currently owns, for the second time, an advanced ERC grant and his work received >62,500 citations (H-factor 139). In 2017, Dirk was awarded with the prestigious World Agriculture Prize. In 2019 he was elected to the rank of AAAS Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and in 2020 he was elected to be a member of Academia Europaea. In 2021, Dirk was appointed member of the Science Council of the ERC. He is the chairperson of EU-SAGE, a consortium of 158 European plant research institutes advocating for the use of Gene editing for a sustainable agriculture (www.eu-sage.com).
Domenico Deserio
DG SANTE
Domenico Deserio is a Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission. He is responsible for policies on biological pesticides, micro-organisms in particular. He co-chairs the EU Biopesticides Working Group, and he is an EU delegate of the OECD Expert Group on Biopesticides. He was responsible for amending EU Regulations concerning data requirements, principles for evaluation, authorisation, and approval of micro-organisms and products containing them, and for other related activities (e.g., Guidance Documents and Communications from the Commission). Before that, he was a scientific officer at EFSA, in the area of biological hazards. He holds a Master of Biotechnology from the University of Bari (Italy) completing a thesis on food microbiology. Moreover, he achieved an advanced postgraduate Master by Research of Agricultural Science at the University of Adelaide (Australia), carrying out his research on plant genomics and plant pathology.
Dörthe Grebel-Koehler
Bayer
Dr. Grebel-Koehler works as a Global Regulatory Manager with Bayer AG Crop Science Division. An organic chemist by training, she joined the crop protection industry in 2004 after graduating from the Max-Plank-Institute for Polymer Research/Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, directly focusing on regulatory topics. Her current focus is on the registration of active ingredients in EU27 and the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, specifically on the legislative changes and the regulatory interplay. Dr. Grebel-Koehler is the chair of the ChemEG and member of other CropLife Europe teams including the CLEG and the CSS Subteam.
Dr Audrey-Flore Ngomsik
Trianon Scientific Communication
TEDx speaker and multi-award-winning leader, Dr. Audrey-Flore Ngomsik, utilizes science to positively influence businesses to take actions in addressing the challenges of climate change. With a Ph.D. in physical and analytical chemistry, she serves as the CEO and co-founder of Trianon Scientific Communication, where she acts as a climate change and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategist. Trianon Scientific Communication is a management consulting firm that assists the highest CO2-emitting companies in balancing sustainability and profitability. Its experts collaborate with board members, executives, managers, and leaders to raise awareness, integrate CSR into their corporate strategy, green their operations, train decision-makers, and explore green innovations. Dr. Ngomsik believes that addressing human, planetary, and profit aspects simultaneously is crucial to tackling today’s sustainable challenges. In fact, diverse leadership and inclusive environments foster innovation, problem-solving skills, generate increased revenue, and more rapidly reduce CO2 emissions within organizations – principles she infuses into her practice. In the medium term, Dr. Ngomsik uses the environmental and social sustainability of businesses as a remedy for greater profitability. In the long term, she integrates sustainability into the DNA of a company, making it a normal way of doing business. As a result, Dr. Ngomsik not only formulates a strategy to reduce the CO2 emissions of a company but also strategizes on increasing both inherent (gender, ethnicity, etc.) and acquired diversity (socio-economic background, education, etc.) among decision-makers in any organization, aiming for greater profitability. Dr. Audrey-Flore Ngomsik serves as a sustainability expert or as a board member for several executive committees of private and public organizations in Europe.
Emma Jenkins
Corteva
Emma grew up on 300 hectare arable farm in the south of England. Starting her career in crop protection working in field trials for a contract research organisation during school and university vacations (counted a lot of aphids!), accepting a full time field trials role in 1996. Emma moved into Regulatory Affairs, when joining the UK Regulatory Authority PSD (now CRD) in 1998. Emma joined the EMEA Regulatory Team in Corteva Agriscience in 2012, becoming an R&D Laureate and moving into a dedicated policy implementation role in 2021.
Eric Liégeois
DG SANTE
Eric Liégeois is born in 1967, in Tournai (Belgium). In 1990, he was graduated Chemical Engineer for Agricultural Industries, from the University of Gembloux (Belgium). He joined for the European Commission as seconded national expert in 2002 at DG Environment where he was in charge of the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. In 2005 he took the position of Director (Risk Management Unit) at the Belgian Ministry of Public Health and the Environment, where his team of 45 persons was in charge of implementing REACH, CLP and Biocides. In June 2007 he decided to join again the European Commission as a permanent administrator official in the Chemicals Unit at DG ENTR (now DG GROW). At DG GROW these recent years he was in charge of revised Fertilisers Regulation Break-out group – Consideration of Risk Mitigation Measures in PPP evaluations proposal and manage for the Commission’s recently adopted Plastics Strategy. He was leading a team in charge of Fertilisers, Detergents, Plant Protection Products, Biocides, Waste recycling and Plastics. Since April 2018 he joined DG SANTE in the team in charge of the authorisation of plant protection products where he is among others chairing the biopesticides working group and is focusing on low-risk products and risk reduction activities.
Georg Schifferdecker
CropLife Europe
Georg Schifferdecker is a seasoned independent consultant and IT solution architect specializing in regulatory document and dossier management. With a career spanning over two decades, he has provided expertise to applicants, associations, and authorities. Representing CLE, he oversees the development and implementation of the CADDY submission format, a key tool for EU product submissions. Over the past five years, Schifferdecker has been instrumental in guiding his clients through the ongoing transition from unstructured and manual document-based to more sophisticated and automated workflows focusing on data-centric information representation, as exemplified in IUCLID. Currently, he is at the forefront of developing the IUCLID Integration Platform (IIP) for CLE. The IIP is designed to streamline the transfer of regulatory information from inhouse sources to IUCLID, while also introducing advanced features not included in the core IUCLID system.
Georgiana Hayes
Adama
Georgiana Hayes joined ADAMA in 2013, bringing 16 years of digital transformation and communication experience from other industries to the agricultural world. Since 2016, her role as Global AgTech & Digital head is to understand challenges that customers have identified and look for solutions that will answer these needs and pain points. Committed to contributing to sustainable farming practices and the responsible use of crop protection, she focuses on collaborating with the right partners and introducing the appropriate service as she believes in promoting easy & affordable access of digital and precision ag tools to all farmers. Georgiana represents ADAMA in Crop Life Europe in the Digital & Precision Ag Expert Group. She is also the Vice Chair of the AgriGuide initiative and leads one of the workstreams.
Gérardine Garçon
BASF
Dr. Gérardine Garçon is Vice President Global Regulatory Legal at BASF Agricultural Solutions. She is an expert in European and international laws, with a strong focus on risk regulation and crop protection law. Gérardine further chairs the CropLife Europe Legal team and the CropLife International Protection of Regulatory Data team. Gérardine holds a law degree from the Saarland University and a LL.M. from its Europa Institut. She obtained her PhD in 1997 with a thesis on the legality of trade embargoes of the European Union under European and public international law. She had joined BASF corporate legal in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany in 1996 and was delegated several years to the BASF Brussels office before she transferred to BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division. Gérardine regularly publishes and gives presentations in the area of regulatory laws and the freedom of information legal framework / Aarhus legislation.
Gisela Quaglia
European Commission
Gisela Quaglia is a Research Programme Officer in the Research and Innovation unit at the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI). In this role, she contributes to DG AGRI’s research and innovation agenda in plant health, crop protection and breeding. Before joining DG AGRI in 2020, Gisela was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie PhD fellow in the EU’s Horizon 2020 project INSPIRATION, an Innovative Training Network. She obtained her PhD in Biosciences Engineering from Ghent University and holds a Chemical Engineering degree, along with a Master’s degree in Environmental Protection and Agricultural Food Production from the University of Hohenheim.
H.E. Ambassador Tokozile Xasa
Republic of South Africa
Her Excellency Ms Xasa serves as the Ambassador of Republic of South Africa to Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Mission to the EU. She previously served as Minister of Sport and Recreation, as well as Minister of Tourism and Deputy Minister of Tourism before that. A teacher by profession, she has taught at several high schools. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Fort Hare, a BA degree from the University of Transkei and a BA Honours degree from the University of Fort Hare. She served as Provincial Treasurer of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape and was a Member of the Provincial Legislature in the Eastern Cape from 2001 until 2009. She served the provincial government as MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs and was once the Mayor of King Sabatha Dalindyebo District Municipality.
Ian Wheals
Syngenta
Ian Wheals studied chemistry at the University of Birmingham in the UK before joining ICI Agrochemicals Environmental Science department at their Jealotts Hill Research Station as a residue chemist. He transferred to the European registration team as the EU embarked on its first attempt at a harmonised regulatory system under Directive 91/414/EC. After a US registration role in Zeneca Agrochemicals, he transferred to Basel, Switzerland as global regulatory non-selective herbicide team lead at the formation of Syngenta in November 2000. He returned to an EU registration role in 2006, as insecticide team lead, as the second iteration of the EU regulatory system, Regulation 1107/2009, was being framed. Ian is now Head of Regulatory Policy EAME at Syngenta Crop Protection, based in Basel, Switzerland and chairs the Crop Protection Regulatory Policy Team in CropLife Europe.
Jacki Davis
Moderator
Jacki Davis is a leading commentator and analyst on European Union affairs. She is an experienced journalist, speaker and moderator of high-level events; a regular broadcaster on television and radio news; and a Senior Adviser to the Brussels-based think tank, the European Policy Centre. She has been based in Brussels for nearly 30 years, and was previously the EPC’s Communications Director; editor-in-chief of E!Sharp, a magazine on EU affairs; launch editor of European Voice, a Brussels-based newspaper on EU affairs owned by The Economist Group, from 1995-2000 (now Politico); and Brussels correspondent of a British national newspaper.
Jannik Grooten
OLAF
Jannik Grooten is an investigator at the European Anti-Fraud Office. He works in the unit specialized in IPR, health and environmental crime. He is the coordinator of the ASEM Joint Customs Operation, called NOXIA. This operation focusses on dangerous substances, being the prevention of illicit transport of waste shipments, illegal pesticides and cigarettes.
Jean-Paul Judson
Nowmore
I am half-English, half-French. A combination some consider to be rather unusual, and they are right: whether it’s in law, politics, education, comedy or culture, nothing can be more different than each side of the Channel. Maybe that partly explains why I am not able to say yes or no as I need to contemplate options before making a decision. That makes me, profoundly, a moderator. It is in-built in my character and rooted in the philosophical contradiction of my national origins. Faithful to my dual nationality, I hold a degree in Politics & Sociology from Royal Holloway University (London, UK) and a Masters in European Affairs from Sciences Po (Paris, France). But it’s sociology that shapes the way I confront everyday life. In the manner of a zoom-in zoom-out approach, I define sociology as the science of context, based on two fundamental notions: No problem exists without a context. No analysis is possible without first setting the problem in the right context. My vision for moderation is to bring sociology centre stage, whether it’s for events, for partnerships or for strategy. If sociology is the science of context, then moderation is its art form. That is why I founded NOWMORE, to inspire moderation. From my experience in European public affairs, my areas of expertise are: local, regional and urban policy; research & innovation; plant breeding, seed production and agriculture; climate action and circular economy; packaging; sports; gender politics.
Jeanne Millan-Bernal
ERM on behalf of IBMA
Jeanne Millan-Bernal is Managing Consultant at ERM. With more than 10 years of experience in regulatory affairs of agrochemicals, she currently works on plant protection products, with a specific focus on biopesticides. Jeanne also leads the IUCLID-PPP team. With a toxicologist background, before joining ERM, she worked in a major Contract Research Organisation (CRO), being study director for more than 300 dermal absorption studies and residues studies. Jeanne is an IBMA (International Biocontrol Manufacturers’ Association) Member.
Jelte Wiersma
CEMA
Mr. Jelte Wiersma is the Secretary General of CEMA – the European Association representing the Agricultural Machinery manufacturers in Europe. CEMA’s members are 11 National Associations and the biggest seven tractor manufacturers in Europe. Mr. Wiersma, a Dutch national, worked since 2014 as EU-correspondent for the leading Dutch weekly, covering on European affairs, including agriculture, and agri-food-related issues. He is one of the founding members of the Holland House in Brussels.
Jens Hartmann
Chair of the Board at CropLife Europe
Jens Hartmann is German and holds a Bachelor degree of Arts in Economics from the Chamber of Commerce in Cologne (1987). Mr. Hartmann has working experience in Europe, Asia and Africa for more than 20 years holding various commercial and managerial positions in Germany, South Africa, Kenya, Pakistan, India and Singapore. His focus at Bayer is driving business growth through digitized climate-smart innovations. Bayer is leading disruption in agtech by unlocking agriculture’s digital and sustainable transformation across the EMEA region and globally. Having taken on a wide spectrum of leadership roles at Bayer across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, Mr. Hartmann has, over the past 30 years, garnered unique insights on the agricultural industry. In February 2022, Jens became Head of Bayer Crop Science, Region Europe Middle East and Africa after more than 3 years as Head of Region Asia Pacific.
Jeremy Belzunces
IBMA
Jérémy Belzunces joined IBMA – the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association in 2022 as a Technical Project Manager. He demonstrates more than 10 years of experience in EU agricultural affairs in the diplomatic and business areas. Jeremy worked for six years in the diplomatic field, advising various governmental and industry bodies on the development of EU agricultural policies and the EU sanitary and phytosanitary framework. He also served as a Delegate to the OECD Committee for Agriculture and two associated OECD working parties: the joint working party on agriculture and trade (JWPAT), and the working party on agricultural policies and markets (APM). Jeremy also worked as an independent consultant in EU agricultural affairs and completed an internship in the Global Strategic Marketing department of BASF Agricultural Solutions. He holds a master’s degree in international business, a master’s degree in business management, and a project management certification.
Jonas Schartner
BVL
Jonas Schartner is working since 2017 at the at the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) in the department for Plant Protection Products (PPP). Since 2021 he is leading the subgroup for the environment managing fungicides and insecticides in the PPP authorisation. After studying Chemistry and Biology at the Ruhr-University Bochum he went in 2011 to the Pennsylvania State University USA for his Master thesis in Plant Biochemistry. In 2015 he received his PhD in Biophysics at the Ruhr-University Bochum.
Jörn Witt
CMS Law
Dr. Jörn Witt, LL.M. (University of London), Partner at CMS Hasche Sigle in Hamburg, Ger-many Jörn Witt is partner with CMS Germany since 2013. In his practice, he has a particular focus on regulatory, reimbursement and other legal issues of the lifesciences and agrosciences industries, advising several globally active companies from these sectors. Among his major and long-standing clients are Corteva Agriscience, Eli Lilly and Coloplast. Jörn also represents his clients in contentious cases, both in adminis-trative proceedings and before the Courts. Across these industries, Jörn furthermore advises on issues around illegal parallel trade and counterfeiting, being member of the INTA Anti-Counterfeiting Committee and regular contributor at the German industry’s anti-counterfeiting association APM.
José Tarazona
PARC
Involved in regulatory risk assessments since the 1990s, as Head of the Ecotoxicology and Environmental Risk Assessment Division at INIA, vicechair of the EU Scientific Committees CSTEE and SCHER, chair of the Risk Assessment Committee at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and Head of the Pesticides Unit at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), among other activites; since 2022 is Research Professor and Head of the Risk Assessment Unit at the National Environmental Health Centre, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, in Spain, coordinating a project on landscape environmental risk assessment of pesticides under the EU Partnership PARC, and contributing to the next generation risk assessment methodology through the incorporation of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to human and ecological risk assessment.
Juozas Olekas
European Parliament
Juozas OLEKAS is a Member of the European Parliament, elected in 2019. In the European Parliament he joined the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and currently is a Head of the Lithuanian delegation. Mr. Olekas participates in the work of the Agriculture and Rural Development, the Foreign Affairs Committees and in the work of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. He was the shadow rapporteur for the AGRI committee opinion on new genomic techniques. From 1996 till 2019 Mr. Juozas Olekas was a member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, where he was a representative of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. Previously to that, he was the Minister of Health (1990-1992 and 2003-2004) and the Minister of Defense (2006-2008 and 2012-2016). He is a medical doctor (surgeon) by profession.
Karin Nienstedt
DG SANTE
Dr. Karin Nienstedt leads the Sector Pesticides – placing on the market in the unit “Pesticides and Biocides” of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission. Before joining the European Commission in 2010, she worked in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as scientific officer for the PPR Panel. She also worked several years in academia and in a GLP-contract research facility on topics related to crop protection and ecotoxicology.
Karolina Lisslö Gylfe
Weplanet
Karolina Lisslö Gylfe is a visionary entrepreneur who has seamlessly transitioned into an “intrapreneur” role, leading the charge for environmental change as the head of the prominent environmental umbrella organization, Weplanet. This modern non-profit organization is dedicated to serving the cause of the environment and sustainability on a global scale. Under her guidance, Weplanet has garnered international recognition and has grown to include member organizations in 14 countries and growing, across Europe, Australia, and Africa. In conclusion, Karolina is a trailblazer in the fields of environmental sustainability, education, and social entrepreneurship. Her commitment to making a positive impact on the world, her diverse skill set, and her remarkable achievements make her an outstanding figure in the realms of environmental advocacy and innovation.
Lesley Young
ADAMA
Lesley Young graduated from the University of Leeds with a Doctorate in Plant Cell Wall Research in 2000. After several years of post-doctoral research Lesley joined the UK Regulatory Authority PSD (now CRD) in 2005 where she was responsible for the project management of plant protection product applications. During her time at CRD Lesley represented the UK at the Post Annex I Expert Issues (PAI) Group and Zonal Steering Committee Meetings. In 2012 Lesley moved to consultancy where she was senior project manager for both active substance and product dossiers. Lesley joined ADAMA in 2022 as Head of Regulatory for UK and Ireland and Regulatory Manager in the EAME Regulatory Affairs Team. Lesley has been a member of the CropLife Europe PAEG team since joining ADAMA.
Maarten Trybou
FPS Public Health Belgium
Maarten Trybou is the head of the department for plant protection and fertilising products at the Federal Public Service for Public health, Food chain safety and Environment. After his training as agricultural engineer, he started at the former Ministry of Agriculture as officer for the national applications for plant protection products. Later on he became responsible for the team in charge of these applications, and eventually for the whole department. Last year, he passed on his function as president of the national authorisation committee in order to fully engage with the management of the department, that grew in the meantime to a staff of 66 experts dealing with the evaluation and policy for the placing on the market of plant protection and fertilising products in Belgium.
Manuela Tiramani
EFSA
Manuela graduated from the university of Milan (IT) as medical doctor. She continued her education with 4 years of specialised course in occupational health, industrial hygiene and toxicology, and a PhD in occupational health (with a focus on risk from non dietary exposure to pesticides). In 2000 she joined as regulatory toxicologist the International Centre for Pesticides and Health Risk Prevention in Milan, one of the EU national competent authorities dealing with the risk assessment of plant protection products at national and EU level. In 2005 Manuela was hired by EFSA as scientific officer for mammalian toxicology in the Pesticide Unit, where a couple of years later she took the position of team leader responsible for mammalian toxicology risk assessment and non dietary exposure assessment. In 2014 she was offered the position of Head of the EFSA FEED Unit, where she worked from 2015 to 2018 for a total of 4 years. In January 2019 Manuela went back to the pesticide area, being appointed as Head of the Pesticide Peer Review Unit (PREV) of the European Food Safety Authority.
Marc Sneyders
Bayer
Graduated at HoGent as Industrial Engineer in Agronomy. 35 years of experience in the Crop Protection Industry working for Schering, AgrEvo, Dupont de Nemours in different roles and the last 25 years for Bayer as member of the Belgium and Benelux Management team translating vision into strategy and actionable initiatives. In the past 10-15 years agronomic sustainability has become for me a major personal driver that allows to seize new business opportunities, to create a strong societal relevance for the Bayer activities and to position sustainable agriculture as part of the solution for the many challenges of our planet and people. In this same period I initiated and coordinated the Sustainable Use Working group at the industry association Phytofar / Belplant. Today I’m working in the European Public affairs, Science and Sustainability team as EMEA Industry Affairs Lead responsible to broaden and deepen Bayer’s relationship with key actors in the EU agri-food- chain seeking to collaboratively drive advocacy and engagement linked to the agri-food-environmental policy development in the EU. Born and raised on a farm, still managing my own farm.
Marc Teiwes
BASF
Marc Teiwes graduated as a Biologist focusing on Ecology from University of Bielefeld (Germany). After spending some years in the safari industry in Zambia he began to work in Crop Protection in 2010 for Rifcon GmbH. In 2012 he started his career at BASF working as a Submission specialist. After 3 years he joined the Regulatory department being a Regulatory Manager for more than 5 years. Since 2020 he leads BASF’s Dossier Management Team responsible for submissions around the globe. In this function he implemented IUCLID and further provisions of the Transparency Regulation within BASF Agricultural Solutions department. He is part of CLE’s electronic Submission Expert Group (eSEG) since 2012 and has chaired the group from 2019-2021. Hence Marc has been working with IUCLID for PPP since the very beginning being part of the IUCLID Pilot exercise and the Hypercare program. Today he is a nominated member of the EFSA IUCLID PSN meeting contributing to the further development of the software.
Marco Binaglia
EFSA
Marco Binaglia has a Master degree in Organic Chemistry from The University of Perugia and a Specialisation degree in Toxicology from the University of Milan. He joined EFSA in 2010 as Senior Scientific Officer Toxicologist in the area of food and feed contaminants, in which he worked as Team Leader from 2015 till 2021. Since January 2022 he holds the position of Team Leader of the Team on Mammalian Toxicology at the Unit on Pesticides Peer Review. Formerly he worked as an industrial toxicologist with responsibility in product safety and human and environmental risk assessment of commodity and speciality chemicals at Solvay S.A.. Since 2007 he is a European Registered Toxicologist (ERT).
Marco Corvaro
Corteva
Marco is an R&D laureate and Technical Team Leader of the Regulatory Toxicology team at Corteva, where he co-leads the development of technical strategies within the larger Human Safety department. Driven by personal and scientific passion, he serves as the team focal point for activities in the 3R and NAMs implementation space. Externally, he serves as the co-chair of the CLE Human Health Expert Group and has been contributing to several technical Expert Groups at OECD, EChA, HESI, ECETOC, EPAA and CropLife during his approximate 18+ years of experience in the safety assessment of regulated products for a variety of industry sectors.
Maria Grazia Camisa
BASF
Maria Grazia Camisa is graduated in Food Science and Technology at the Catholic University of Piacenza; she joined BASF Italia S.p.A as Country Regulatory Manager in 2010, after more than 10 years of experience in Regulatory Affairs at national level in multinational companies. After leading the Regulatory, Sustainability, Public and Governmental Affairs and External Communications team for Southern European Countries, Africa and Middle East., Maria Grazia currently covers the position as Head of Regulatory Affairs Crop Protection EMEA-CIS at BASF.
Mark Williams
DG SANTE
Mark Williams has a background in biochemistry and biomedicine and is a Policy Officer in the Pesticides and Biocides Unit at DG SANTE. Mark is working primarily on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, focused on topics related to the approval of active substances and the decision making process for new substances, renewal of approval and confirmatory information. In addition, Mark works on the development of new legislation and guidance, including most recently the new implementing rules for renewal of approval and the guidance on emergency authorisations. Before joining the Commission in 2015 he worked at the Health and Safety Executive in the UK.
Martyn Griffiths
Bayer
Dr. Griffiths graduated from University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and obtained his doctorate in field of liquid fertilisers from Harper Adams College. His involvement in crop protection started over 30 years ago with Schering. After 5 years of field development experience, he moved to Frankfurt, Germany with AgrEvo, where he held a number of positions including responsibility for registrations in China, Taiwan and Korea. With the formation of Bayer CropScience, he has worked in the European Regulatory Affairs team in Lyon, France and his current position is Senior Regulatory Scientific Affairs Manager in EMEA Regulatory Science. He is chairman of the CropLife EU Digital Committee, and a member of the Digital Label Compliance team.
Max Schulman
COPA COGECA
Max, born 14.03.1966, grew up on his family’s farm which he took over in 1986. Stor-Tötar Gård, is an old family farm that combines arable land and forestry in South Western Finland that has been in the family for around 400 years. Continuity that hopefully will go forward since Max is raising three boys together with his Spanish wife Marta. Before taking over the full responsibility of running the farm and having taken a degree in agricultural economics, he became a grain trader for the Finnish Grain Board. After that Max worked in the agricultural machinery sector from 2003 until 2008. This job took him all over the world from America to China. For the last 15 years he has been working in the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) as the Advisor for cereals, oilseeds and protein crops. Max was Chairman 2013–2019 of the Cereals Working Group in Copa-Cogeca based in Brussels. He is a member of the EU Arable Crops Market Observatory and 2018-20 Chairman of the Civil Dialogue Group, Arable Crops. From 2020 –. Owner of Farm-XPort Ltd, grain trading company for special consignments. Co-founder and member of the board of Grain Sense Ltd, the portable protein and quality analyzer for grains. Chairman of VYR the Finnish Grain Committee, 2018 – 2021. Chair of the Agri Food Chain Round Table on PPP 2020 – and vice chairman of the Copa Cogeca Phytosanitary WG from 2021-, vice chairman of the Seeds WG 2023.
Melanie Muro
Institute of European Environmental Policy
Dr Melanie Muro is a Senior Policy Analyst with the CAP and Food team at IEEP. She is a trained Environmental Planner with a PhD in Water Management from Cranfield University in the UK. At IEEP, her work focuses on analysing and evaluating EU agricultural and environmental policies and their implementation in the European Member States. Before joining IEEP, Melanie worked at Milieu Consulting, designing and delivering research and advice for European environmental policymaking and implementation in the fields of soil, agriculture, nature, water, and marine policy. Dr Muro also worked as a researcher and educator, first with the Institute of Landscape and Environmental Planning at the Technical University Berlin in 2004 and 2005 and then with the Cranfield Water Science Institute from 2005 until 2011. During her academic career, she worked extensively on integrated and collaborative water resources planning and management issues.
Michelle Embry
HESI
Dr. Michelle Embry is the Deputy Director of the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) a non-profit organization with a mission to develop science for a safer, more sustainable world. She holds a PhD in toxicology and a BS from Duke University and has nineteen years of experience in human and health and ecological risk assessment. Dr. Embry has over sixty publications and has served on numerous international advisory committees. Her current projects involve ecological and human health risk assessment, including the Next Generational Ecological Risk Assessment and PBPK Committees, and the RISK21 project. She is the lead for the HESI Global Risk Assessment Training Consortium, an initiative aimed at increasing availability of foundational chemical risk assessment training and resources, particularly in low and middle-income and resource-limited regions. Prior to joining HESI in 2006 she was a risk assessor at the USEPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs.
Monica Garcia Aguilar
DG SANTE
Monica Garcia Aguilar is a Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission. She is responsible for amending the EU Regulation concerning the labelling on plant protection products, developing a guidance on risk mitigation measures and handling of the decision-making procedure for chemical and micro-organisms active substances. She is also coordinating a group of technical experts from Member States and EFSA that provide scientific and regulatory guidance on environmental topics. Before that, she worked as researcher in a Horizon 2020 project on the uptake of innovative spraying equipment in Europe. She also worked in the Stockholm Environmental Institute contributing to research projects on water and waste management governance in Colombia and Bolivia. She holds a Double Degree Master Programme in Environmental Sciences in Europe from the University of Copenhagen and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Nelli Hajdu
CELCAA
Nelli Hajdu is the Secretary General of CELCAA, the European Liaison Committee for Agricultural and Agri-Food Trade, which represents the most essential food sectors and their trading operations with commodities such as meat and livestock, dairy, cereals, grain, and oilseed trade, eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks, wine and aromatized wine products, hops, tea, and herbal infusions, tobacco, and the craft butcher sector. CELCAA represents more than 25.000 agri-food traders, exporters, importers, distributors, and collectors in Europe. CELCAA focuses on agri-food imports and exports and the respective market access to priority countries, as well as increasingly on sustainability regulations as a new market access requirement for global agri-food trade. She is further the co-owner of NAERO-Consulting, a boutique consultancy focusing on agri-food trade and market access. Prior to her role in CELCAA, she was the Secretary General of SHAFFE – The Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters, from 2020 to 2022. She further covered the trade dossiers for Freshfel Europe the European Fruit and Vegetable Association, from 2015 to 2022 as Director for Trade Policy, with a focus on trade facilitation, SPS, and market access. She holds a postgraduate master’s degree in European Governance from the College of Europe and a master’s degree in political science and media science from the Goethe University in Frankfurt a.M., Germany.
Niklas Pieper
Bayer
With more than 20 years of experience as attorney Dr. Niklas Pieper is responsible for the global legal advise to the Public Affairs, Sustainability and Crop Protection Regulatory functions within Bayer AG Crop Science Division. He joined Bayer in 2006 and previously managed major pharmaceutical US product liability litigation proceedings for Bayer, held global responsibilities in Bayer’s compliance function and counseled various business and product supply units within Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health and Crop Science Divisions. Before Niklas joined Bayer he had worked from 1999 through 2006 as attorney in private practice and most of this time with the international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He graduated and holds a PhD in law from University of Cologne.
Nina Hallmark
Bayer
Dr. Nina Hallmark currently works in the Bayer Crop Science, Environmental Safety team. Her specific scientific interest is to better understand the biological mechanisms behind reproductive or developmental effects in mammals exposed to chemicals including pesticides, for both human and wildlife risk assessments. Her research into non-animal test methods (NAMs) to investigate these complex physiological systems dates back to 2005 and continues today. She supports their use as possible new assessment methods (NAMs) in regulatory decision making, as well as encouraging their role in futuristic next generation risk assessment (NGRA) approaches. She promotes the concept of integrated safety assessments between human and environmental health disciplines, such as using hazard data designed for human safety to also protect wild birds and mammals, and also actively recruits different stakeholders to collaborate on tackling global chemical safety topics with the use of science and data driven approaches.
Olivier de Matos
CropLife Europe
Olivier de Matos is the Director General of CropLife Europe. Prior to CropLife Europe he was the Secretary General at ECETOC, the European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals, where he spent 4 years leading the association and promoting its scientific programme activities and initiatives. Before that he held various leadership positions at Burson-Marsteller (now BCW) where he worked for more than 15 years.
Onyaole Patience Koku
Farmer from Africa
Onyaole Patience Koku is a graduate of political science. An accomplished entrepreneur with over 30years experience spanning across various industries including fashion and agriculture. She was named 2018 Farmer of the year by the Cornell Alliance for science. A member of the Global Farmer Network and 2019 Kleckner award recipient, 2021 GIZ African Women in Agribusiness award for Covid 19 resilience. She serves on the advisory board of the Cornell Alliance for science , Bayer global farmer advisory board and is dedicated to advocating for access to scientific and innovative tools that help farmers become more efficient. She has hands on experience in starting and running a 12000 broiler bird per cycle poultry farm, commodity trading both locally and internationally brokering sales for ADM in Nigeria. Crop farming on a commercial scale since 2012 currently harvesting over 1000 hectares annually on farms irrigated with center pivot systems growing maize seed ,grain and bananas. Onyaole is on the board of several companies including Bellisima boutique ltd,Replenish farms Ltd,1 hectare 1 family Nig Ltd a company that is working towards cropping 200,000 hectares of land in the next 5 years improving the livelihood of small holder farmers by granting them access to mechanization, innovation and Technology and Yieldwise seeds a company dedicated to growing good quality seed for farmers. Her company 1hectare1family is working to transfer NO-TILL farming to smallholder farmers in Nigeria in collaboration with the Argentina No TILL farmers association. The company is also one of the 6 in the 2023 cohort of the GIZ Private Adaptation Investment Bootcamp aimed at accessing Investment to scale up the Climate Smart Technology adoption. She has spoken on numerous platforms around the world including The World Food Prize, The FAO, The UN, The Global Entrepreneurship Summit,AGRF,Agra innovate,ISBR,CRISPRCON amongst so many others. Onyaole served on the Resilence committee of UN Food Systems Summit. She is a mentor on the FAO/IAFN Entrepreneurship accelerator program and also the Bayer Youth Ag Summit. She is married to Oluwafemi koku and they have 1 daughter Folayimi.
Paolo de Castro
European Parliament
Paolo De Castro is Professor of Agricultural Economics and Policy at the University of Bologna. His academic career has been full of awards, both nationally and internationally. Professor Paolo De Castro is author of over 150 scientific publications: particularly mentioned are his scientific contributions on the issue of food security and the role of international trade in the development of modern society. Paolo De Castro served for three times as Minister of Agriculture of his country, and was Vice-President of the Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food Production of the Senate of the Italian Republic. Between 2000 and 2002, he was also special adviser to the president of the European Commission, Prof. Romano Prodi. Paolo De Castro is a member of the European Parliament since July 2009. He chaired the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development from 2009 to 2014, leading the European Parliament’s negotiating team during the whole reform process of the Common Agricultural Policy for the 2014/2020 period. During his second mandate as Member of the European Parliament, Paolo De Castro was first Vice-Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. Re-elected in July 2019, he was Coordinator of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Member of the Committee on International Trade and on Budgets. Today, he is Member of the Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development and on International Trade. The combination of scientific, managerial and political experiences, coupled with a deep knowledge of the international relations, has allowed Professor Paolo De Castro to gain a detailed understanding of the functioning of food systems and on the issues of agricultural development. His competence is internationally recognized and attested by the many contributions made, both as a speaker and as an author, within the highest international institutions dealing with food and agriculture.
Pasquale Falcigno
BASF
Pasquale Falcigno is the Global Regulatory Affairs – Global Regulatory Manager Inerts – Crop Protection at BASF based in Switzerland.
Patrick Kabouw
Novonesis
Patrick Kabouw is a Regulatory Manager at Novonesis, a world pioneer in BioSolutions. With over 12 years of experience in plant protection products, his mission is to foster innovation and collaboration within the biocontrol community. Patrick is just as dedicated to biocontrol and sustainability as Novonesis. Together with partners, he aspires to foster an environment that promotes innovation, growth, and sustainability. In agriculture, Patrick’s career centers on biocontrol, specializing in crafting optimal registration strategies for biocontrol solutions such as beneficial microorganisms, naturally derived enzymes, seed treatments, and environmentally friendly proteins. He’s dedicated to creating global strategies that align with local requirements, aiming to bring these biocontrol solutions to the toolbox of the farmer. He actively contributes to several industry associations such as CropLife Europe’s Biopesticide group, Euroseeds, and the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association as a moderator for the natural substances group, advocating for streamlined regulatory frameworks supporting biocontrol solutions.
Patrick Pagani
COPA COGECA
Mr. Patrick Pagani is Italian and studied European Law at the University of Rome. After early experiences in the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and DG Agriculture of the European Commission he has worked for several years in the European sugar beet sector on sustainability, agriculture and innovation matters in close link with the farming community. Mr. Patrick Pagani is currently Deputy Secretary General of Copa and Cogeca from 1st of February 2024. He is responsible for its office leadership and giving direction and clarity to its strategic and policy development. Previously, as Lead Coordinator, he was responsible for policy coordination within Copa-Cogeca. Among other files he has been developing the organization stance on Farm to Fork, Fit for 55 and food security. He is also in charge of the Agriculture Technology work with the Secretariat aiming to make the farming sector one of the frontrunners in the data-driven economy and in developing new technologies for better resource efficiency, improving, and modernising the agriculture sector in the path towards more sustainability.
Peter Campbell
Syngenta
Dr Peter Campbell is Global Head of Product Safety Science Strategy based at the Jealotts Hill Research Centre in UK. He has a B.Sc. In Zoology and a PhD in the area of Marine Biology. He has worked with Syngenta in the field of environmental risk assessment of Pesticides for 26 years. He is a Fellow of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and currently Chairs both Environmental Expert Group and Biodiversity Steering team of Crop Life Europe. Prior to joining Syngenta he was Head of Ecotoxicology at the UK Pesticide Regulatory Authority.
Philippe Baudoin
BASF
I’m agronomist by education with a specialty in soil science (Master degree at Faculty of Gembloux, Belgium). I started my career within Rhone Poulenc Agro in 1987 and had there several commercial and technical positions in Belgium and Luxembourg. I joined TIMAC (Groupe Roullier) in 1997 as Marketing Manager Benelux & Switzerland for fertilizing products and feed additives. Then I made a come-back in 1999 in the Plant Protection business hired by BASF to fill the function of Technical Manager for Belgium and Luxembourg in charge of R&D and registration. Since 2013 I moved to the position of Regulatory Manager – Agricultural Solutions EMEA & CIS countries and also in charge of anti-counterfeiting coordination on these countries. I’m chairing the CropLife Europe Regulatory Foresight Committee, am also full member there of the Policy Team, Chemical Strategy for Sustainability sub-team and Anti-Counterfeiting Expert Group. Main hobbies : sport (table tennis), gardening
Richard Currie
ECETOC
Richard Currie is a Syngenta Senior Fellow in Global Product Safety’s Science Strategy function, based at the Jealotts Hill International Research Centre (Bracknell, UK). He champions the use of mechanistic toxicology and modern approaches to risk assessment. His research interests are in the development and application of modern approaches such as SAR, mechanism of toxicity (including MOA/AOPs), multi-omics methods & interpretation, and in vitro assays and quantitative systems models for toxicology, ecotoxicology and environmental fate. He is a leader for the identification, development, and deployment of new approaches that enhance the capabilities of our research teams to invent new safe and sustainable crop protection active ingredients. Through his consultancy and advocacy internally and externally, via his work with others, he illustrates the potential for modern approaches to be applied in risk assessment problems now and in the future.
Robert Bankowski
E-V-A on behalf of Poland
I’m regulatory toxicologist. Since 2004, I have been participating in the work of EFSA as an external expert in the field of toxicological risk assessment resulting from the use of active substances in plant protection products. As RMS for several substances for which AIR process has been finalized and still under evaluation I was participating in number of PPRM meetings. My education is a Veterinary Doctor. I’m graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences. I specialized in the Department of Internal Medicine. I wrote and finalized my PhD thesis in the field of immunopharmacology. In addition to clinical work, I conducted classes with veterinary students in my Department. In 2001, I started working at National Institute of Public Health in the Department of Toxicology And Health Risk Assessment. From the beginning of my work I undertook research on the impact of agrochemicals on the natural environment and human health.
Roman Ashauer
Syngenta
Dr Roman Ashauer is an environmental scientist who joined Syngenta in 2019 after a successful career in academia at Eawag (CH) and the University of York (UK). His scientific expertise is in ecotoxicology, predictive science and environmental systems modelling. He is probably most well-known for his research on toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic models. Perhaps less well known are his contributions to in vitro to in vivo toxicity extrapolation methods, where he led the project which delivered the first successful in vitro to in vivo toxicity extrapolation for growth effects on fish and later wrote an award-winning paper on predictive ecotoxicology, physiological modes of action and adverse outcome pathways. Roman has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers, one scientific book and won multiple prizes and awards. Since 2022 he is a Syngenta Fellow and his favorite personality analysis describes him as: “An original and idealistic thinker whose contributions, although infrequent, are often pivotal points.”
Rosa Criollo
FMC
Biologist with a master in applied ecology, working on risk assessment and registration activities for plant protection products since 2000. A former ecotoxicology and environmental fate dossier writer., a registration manager. Currently in the role as EMEA Regional Regulatory Team Leader at FMC Corporation, and chair of the BioPPP at CLE.
Sirkku Heinimaa
European Commission
Sirkku Heinimaa has graduated from the University of Helsinki on food sciences and in addition studied food sciences in Portugal, UK and Ireland. Since 1997, she has worked for the European Commission in the area of EU food legislation, for example on food additives and novel foods. Currently, she is the Deputy Head of Unit in the Unit E3 Biotechnology in the Health and Food Safety Directorate General. Among her tasks and responsibilities, she coordinates the work on policy development regarding new genomic techniques.
Stefan Sipka
European Policy Centre
Stefan Sipka is a Senior Policy Analyst and Head of the Sustainable Prosperity for Europe programme at the European Policy Centre. With 12 years of professional experience, his area of expertise pertains to EU’s climate and environmental policies, especially in the context of the European Green Deal. Stefan conducted multiple research projects concerning topics such as circular economy, air quality, sustainable agri-food, nature restoration and public participation in environmental matters. Stefan also explored cross-cutting topics, such as the linkages between EU’s green and digital agendas where he helped EPC make a policy impact at the EU level. Stefan’s engagement in the EPC (since 2018) is built upon his previous academic and professional background concerning the green transition, public policy, international relations and the EU.
Tom Bals
CEMA
Tom worked for 40 years for Micron Sprayers Ltd, a UK SME, as Managing Director from 1988 and Chairman from 1993. Micron gained a UK Queens Award to Industry, a CWDE Award for long term commitment to sustainable development and various other awards during his tenure, during which Tom helped develop the BCPC Spray Quality Scheme and the ‘Reduced Volume’ application guidelines in the UK Code of Practice. Tom retired from Micron in 2020 but remains Secretary of the CEMA technical group on sprayers and helped develop the pan-European STEP-Water project with CLE and chairs the current European Precision Application Task Force TG1. Tom continues to help develop standards for crop protection equipment in Europe (CEN), the US (ASABE) and internationally (ISO/TC23/SC6 on equipment for crop protection – Tom is convenor of their WG on portable sprayers and past convenor of other WGs on spray drift and vocabulary).
Volker Koch-Achelpöhler
Gowan
Volker Koch-Achelpöhler is the Agriculture Relations Director for Gowan in Europe. He is closely involved in Agricultural Policy across Europe and plays a leadership role in making sure that regulatory and governmental policies support safe and effective crop inputs. Volker is closely working with the European Commission, the European Parliament, the EU Member States’ governments and a broad variety of food-chain stakeholders in Europe. Before starting with Gowan, Volker held various positions in the Crop Protection Industry. He led the representation office of Bayer AG to the EU and prior to that he served as the Director General of the German Crop Protection and Fertilizer Association (IVA) in Frankfurt for nearly 11 years. He started his career in crop protection in 2000 in CropLife Europe. Volker grew up on a family-farm in Germany and obtained an ‘Engineer in Agricultural Economics’ degree from the University of Bonn, Germany.
Zita Varanavičienė
CropLife Lithuania
Zita Varanavičienė is the director of CropLife Lithuania. This Association’s primary objective is the dissemination of good plant protection practices, the promotion of initiatives for the safe use of plant protection products, the implementation of circular economy principles in the management of plant protection product packaging and the promotion of anticounterfeit activity in Lithuania. Zita graduated as a biologist, holds a Master’s degree in Ecology and Environmental Management, studied Chemical Risk Assessment at Uppsala University, and has more than 10 years of practical experience as a regulatory ecotoxicologist and fate expert. She has substantial experience related to the chemicals management legislation which was gained by working in the ministerial team. The last five years have been full of new challenges as director of CLL. Growing tomatoes and flowers, walking with the dogs and travelling to historical sites by motorbike takes up her leisure time.
Zsuzsanna Koenig
DG SANTE
Zsuzsa Konig is a Policy Officer in the Pesticides and Biocides Unit of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission. She is working on topics related to the approval of active substances and on horizontal topics such as the assessment of the plant protection products including co-formulants; grants to the Member States to decrease delays in the approval and authorisation procedures. She joined the European Commission as seconded national expert in 2002 at DG Research, and she has a permanent position since 2007. She has a master as molecular biologist and journalist from the University of Szeged (Hungary) and post-graduation in economics from the University of Budapest (Hungary).