European Food Authority: Questions and answers
MEMO/01/163, Brussels, 7 May 2001
What will be the tasks of the European Food Authority?
As set out in the Commission proposal for a Regulation laying down fundamental principles and requirements of food law and establishing a European Food Authority (EFA), the core task of the Authority will be to provide independent scientific advice and support and to set up a network for close co-operation with similar bodies in Member States. It will assess risks related to the food chain and give the general public information about food risks.
The EFA will have six main tasks:
The Commission has put forward its proposal in November 2000. The EP and the Council have both reacted favourably to the proposal and are making good progress towards establishing their positions. The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on its position in the leading committee on May 28, and at the 12 June plenary session. The Swedish Council Presidency has said it is working towards a Common Position before the end of its mandate which runs out on 1 July. In case the positions of Parliament and Council converge, a fast track adoption of the regulation in first reading could be an option. If not, a second reading in EP and Council would follow.
The Nice European summit of December 2000 has clearly expressed the view that the EFA should be operational by early 2002. The Commission is doing everything possible to ensure that the Authority is legally set up before that date, and that key operations can start as early as possible in 2002.To become operational, procedures in particular for the nomination of the Management Board, and subsequently of the Executive Director need to be launched and completed, and Authority staff recruited.
What are the limits of the EFA's mandate with respect to other institutions?
The Authority will be a separate legal entity, independent from the other Community institutions. Its mandate is broad, so that it can take a comprehensive view of the food chain and provide a coherent scientific basis for policy and legislation. Therefore the EFA will cover all issues having a direct or indirect impact on the safety of food, as well as animal health and welfare, plant health and nutrition. It will for example also provide scientific opinions on any issue related to genetically modified organisms.
The responsibility for risk management decisions remains with the politically responsible institutions as established in the Treaty.
What is the organisational set-up of the EFA?
The European Food Authority will be run by an Executive Director, appointed by a Management Board, and assisted by an Advisory Forum. It will include eight scientific panels and a co-ordinating scientific committee.
Management Board
The Authority will be fully independent, transparent in its workings and accountable to democratic institutions. Its Management Board will be composed of
The Board, on the basis of a proposal by the Commission, will appoint the Executive Director for a period of 5 years.
Advisory Forum
The EFA will be assisted by an Advisory Forum, composed of fifteen representatives from bodies in the Member States undertaking similar tasks to those of EFA, such as national agencies performing risk assessments in the food sector. The close involvement of these national bodies is essential for example to ensure an efficient networking with national scientific bodies, as a mechanism for an exchange of information on potential risks and for pooling knowledge.
Scientific Panels
The Scientific Panels will be composed of independent scientific experts selected following an open call for expressions of interest and appointed by the Management Board. The following panels will be established:
A Scientific Committee will be responsible for the general co-ordination necessary to ensure the consistency in the scientific opinions of the different panels. This Committee will be composed of the chairpersons of the scientific panels and six independent experts who do not belong to any panel.
Personnel and budget
The EFA will be funded from the Community budget and, when fully operational, would dispose of substantial in-house scientific expertise. After the first years of operational experience resource needs will be reviewed and established. It is envisaged that some 250 people will be employed by the Authority within the first three years, with a budget of some €40 million. While the EFA will initially be entirely funded from the Community budget, the feasibility of partial funding by fees for services provided will be examined after the three initial years of EFA operation.
What is the role of the EFA and of the Advisory Forum in case of conflicting scientific opinions?
The European Food Authority will have the explicit task to watch out for and identify any potential source of conflict between its scientific opinions and the scientific opinions issued by other bodies carrying out similar tasks. To this end the EFA will set up and manage scientific networks. In case the EFA identifies potentially conflicting scientific views involving its panels or other Community bodies, it shall ensure that all relevant scientific information is shared between those concerned. If such conflicting scientific positions involve a national scientific body, the EFA and this body shall co-operate and the EFA's Advisory Forum shall be consulted.
In both cases, the aim is to either resolve the conflict or to present a joint document clarifying the contentious scientific issues. The EFA is not empowered to act as a final scientific arbitrator, or to establish opinions that are binding on the parties concerned. Its important role is to anticipate conflicts, to bring parties together and, where necessary, to involve the national bodies as represented in the Advisory Forum in the search for scientific consensus.
How will the independence of the EFA be ensured?
EFA is an independent body with an autonomous right to create its own organisation and to communicate. Members of the Management Board, the Advisory Forum and scientists on the panels shall act independently. For this purpose they will make a declaration of commitment and a declaration of interests annually in writing. At each meeting they will declare any special interest which might be considered prejudicial to their independence in relation to the items on the agenda.
What can the EFA do to prevent the food crises of the past ?
The Authority will have a clear pro-active role in collection and analysis of scientific and other relevant types of data, allowing for identification and early warning of emerging risks in the food chain. It will co-ordinate the collection of exposure data from a variety of monitoring programmes in collaboration with scientific bodies in the Member States. The Authority will be expected to set up fully integrated networks with scientific bodies in the Member States on the basis of their scientific competence. It will be able to commission short-term scientific studies when required to complete the scientific basis for its advice, and to outsource certain of its tasks, taking into account the ongoing work within the framework of the Community research programs and the Joint Research Centre.
Will the EFA communicate its position directly to the public?
The Authority will communicate actively with the public about its activities and their results. The information will be objective, reliable and easily understandable for the general public.
Will the transparency rules of the current scientific committees also apply to the EFA?
The publication of the opinions of the Scientific Committee and the scientific panels, including minority opinions, will be obligatory. The same goes for the annual declarations of interest and the declarations of interest made in relation to items on the agendas of meetings and the results of scientific work. The Management Board can decide to hold some of its meetings in public and may invite consumer representatives to observe some of the EFA´s activities. It shall also ensure wide access to documents in its possession.
What will be the EFA's role in crisis management?
The European Commission remains responsible for proposing risk management measures to the European Parliament and Council, and for deciding emergency measures. Risk management measures may include marketing bans, restrictions or specific conditions for the marketing of food or feed. The Commission may under the new rules proposed in the regulation adopt emergency measures relative to any food, whatever its type or origin, in case of serious risk to human health. Within less than 10 working days such measures are to be reviewed by a newly created Committee on Food Safety and Animal Health, in which the existing Standing Committees dealing with food safety, animal health and plant health will be merged.
In addition to its task of identification of emerging risks, the Authority will assist as necessary in crisis management. The Commission is, under the new rules proposed in the Regulation, to develop crisis management plans together with the EFA and the Member States. In case of a crisis, the Commission would immediately set up a crisis unit, involving the Authority for necessary scientific and technical advice. The crisis unit would collect and evaluate all relevant information and identify options to prevent, reduce or eliminate the risk effectively and rapidly. The crisis unit would equally be in charge of measures to inform the public in times of crises.
It is also proposed that the EFA will be in charge of the operation of a broadened rapid alert system that will cover the entire food chain, including animal feed. Any information on a serious direct or indirect risk to human health deriving from food or feed must be notified via the competent national authorities to the rapid alert. The same goes for all measures taken to restrict the marketing of a product, whether of EU origin or imported. In case of notification of a risk, the EFA will evaluate if the product in question poses a serious risk to health and, if so, immediately transmit such information to other authorities in the rapid alert network. All national measures to restrict marketing of a product notified to the rapid alert system are forwarded by it to the other competent national authorities. The Authority will bring additional scientific and technical resources to the operation of the rapid alert system.
Background
The White Paper on Food Safety of January 2001 sets out to modernise legislation and to produce a coherent and transparent set of rules, reinforcing controls from the farm to the table and increasing the capability of the EU scientific advice system. Public consultations on the White paper and reactions of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers confirmed that the creation of a Food Authority with scientific and technical competence is generally regarded as the most effective way to address the growing need for a solidly science-based policy and to increase consumer confidence.
Fundamental changes in the organisation of scientific advice on which Community legislation is based were first introduced in 1997, in response to the BSE crisis. In a Decision of October 1997 the Commission set up a scientific Steering Committee and eight specialised scientific committees. At the same occasion, the principles of independence, excellence and transparency were set out as the basic operating rules for the functioning of these committees.
Practical experience acquired in the work of the committees over the past years has demonstrated a lack of capacity in the current system which has led to serious delays in both the delivery of advice required for decisions to manage risks to consumer health and for the authorisation of products, processes and substances under EU legislation. The lack of in-house scientific expertise to undertake preparatory work for the actual risk assessment task of the committee's members was identified in the White Paper on Food Safety as a hindrance to the delivery of rapid and effective advice.