The European Food Safety Authority's scientific committee says that its panels have now been appointed, opening the way for the body to start work on streamlining safety within the European food and drinks industry.
The EFSA will now take over the responsibility for the scientific assessment of food safety issues from the European Commission.
"This is a major milestone in European food safety," said Geoffrey Podger, EFSA's executive director. "It means that we have arrived at the point where the Authority can begin the core work that it was set up to do. That is, to have the best available scientists working on the most important food safety issues, so that significant improvements can be made to the safety of food in the European Union. That process begins now."
The scientific committee and panels are responsible for providing the scientificopinions of the Authority within their individual areas of competence. If and whenappropriate, they can also organise hearings so that broader input can be obtained.
The EFSA stated that members of the scientific committee and panels have been appointed for a three year term, which is renewable. In addition, the EFSA will have its own scientific staff, and most of thesewill be recruited in late 2003 and 2004, following what the body says will be the imminent appointment of thedeputy director (Head of Science). Together, these different scientific elements willgive the authority the flexibility that it needs to answer the regular questions asked by the main stakeholders, to undertake the necessary strategic work and to react to short term needs and emergencies.
The scientific committee itself is composed of the chairs of each of the eight panelsplus a number of independent experts. These experts are not members of panels,but collectively possess the most appropriate balance of expertise to support thefunctioning of the committee. Although the panels primarily operate as independententities, the EFSA says that the committee is responsible for the general co-ordination necessary toensure the consistency of the scientific opinion procedure. In this respect, theadoption of working procedures and decisions on the harmonisation of workingmethods will be of particular importance. The committee will provide opinions onissues which affect more than one panel and on those which do not fall within thecompetence of any of the panels.
The list of panels which has been created will include, among others: food additives, flavourings, processing aids and materials in contact withfood; plant health, plant protection products and their residues; genetically modified organisms; and contaminants in the food chain.
The EFSA says that the members of the panels are independent scientific experts who have beenappointed as a result of a worldwide call for expressions of interest and an extensiveevaluation exercise. During the course of time, the number, responsibilities andmembership of the panels may be adapted to take into account new developmentsrelating to food safety.