The Authority shall ensure that the public and any interested parties are rapidly given objective, reliable and easily accessible information, in particular with regard to the results of its work. These should include issues having a direct or indirect impact on the safety of the food and feed supply chains, animal health and welfare, and plant health. (25) It is necessary to establish the general principles upon which food and feed may be traded and the objectives and principles for the contribution of the Community to developing international standards and trade agreements. In general, the public shall have access to information on product identification, the nature of the risk and the measure taken.However, the members of the network shall take steps to ensure that members of their staff are required not to disclose information obtained for the purposes of this Section which by its nature is covered by professional secrecy in duly justified cases, except for information which must be made public, if circumstances so require, in order to protect human health.2. 1. Food and feed business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control shall ensure that foods or feeds satisfy the requirements of food law which are relevant to their activities and shall verify that such requirements are met. /O 1446 It shall not apply to primary production for private domestic use or to the domestic preparation, handling or storage of food for private domestic consumption. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety Recourse to a risk analysis prior to the adoption of such measures should facilitate the avoidance of unjustified barriers to the free movement of foodstuffs. 0000120782 00000 n It shall be followed, in good time, by supplementary information, in particular where the measures on which the notification is based are modified or withdrawn. If a food business operator considers or has reason to believe that a food which it has imported, produced, processed, manufactured or distributed is not in compliance with the food safety requirements, it shall immediately initiate procedures to withdraw the food in question from the market where the food has left the immediate control of that initial food business operator and inform the competent authorities thereof. 1. 6. (38) In order to avoid duplicated scientific assessments and related scientific opinions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the Authority should also provide scientific opinions on products other than food and feed relating to GMOs as defined by Directive 2001/18/EC(7) and without prejudice to the procedures established therein. The Management Board shall adopt its rules of procedure.Unless otherwise provided, the Management Board shall act by a majority of its members.6. (45) The Authority should take over the role of the Scientific Committees attached to the Commission in issuing scientific opinions in its field of competence. The members of the Management Board, the members of the Advisory Forum and the Executive Director shall undertake to act independently in the public interest. The members of the Scientific Committee who are not members of Scientific Panels and the members of the Scientific Panels shall be appointed by the Management Board, acting upon a proposal from the Executive Director, for a three-year term of office, which shall be renewable, following publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities, in relevant leading scientific publications and on the Authority's website of a call for expressions of interest. The Authority's mission should also cover scientific advice and scientific and technical support on human nutrition in relation to Community legislation and assistance to the Commission at its request on communication linked to Community health programmes. Each year, the Executive Director shall submit to the Management Board for approval: (a) a draft general report covering all the activities of the Authority in the previous year; (c) the draft annual accounts for the previous year; (d) the draft budget for the coming year. (23) The safety and confidence of consumers within the Community, and in third countries, are of paramount importance. (43) The Management Board should have the necessary powers to establish the budget, check its implementation, draw up internal rules, adopt financial regulations, appoint members of the Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels and appoint the Executive Director. Feed shall be deemed to be unsafe for its intended use if it is considered to:- have an adverse effect on human or animal health;- make the food derived from food-producing animals unsafe for human consumption.3. Chapter I Scope and definitions . You have remained in right site to start getting this info. Feed that complies with specific Community provisions governing feed safety shall be deemed to be safe insofar as the aspects covered by the specific Community provisions are concerned.5. 4. The scope of the existing system includes food and industrial products but not feed. "risk assessment" means a scientifically based process consisting of four steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation;12. The Advisory Forum shall constitute a mechanism for an exchange of information on potential risks and the pooling of knowledge. Such disparities are liable to create barriers to trade and distort competition between food business operators in different Member States. The Authority shall promote the European networking of organisations operating in the fields within the Authority's mission. 3. It shall inform the competent authorities of the action taken to prevent risk arising from the use of that feed and shall not prevent or discourage any person from cooperating, in accordance with national law and legal practice, with the competent authorities, where this may prevent, reduce or eliminate a risk arising from a feed.4. 1. 67). (11) In order to take a sufficiently comprehensive and integrated approach to food safety, there should be a broad definition of food law covering a wide range of provisions with a direct or indirect effect on the safety of food and feed, including provisions on materials and articles in contact with food, animal feed and other agricultural inputs at the level of primary production. (66) It is necessary and appropriate for the achievement of the basic objectives of this Regulation to provide for the approximation of the concepts, principles and procedures forming a common basis for food law in the Community and to establish a European Food Safety Authority. 0000004271 00000 n It is therefore necessary to establish a comprehensive system of traceability within food and feed businesses so that targeted and accurate withdrawals can be undertaken or information given to consumers or control officials, thereby avoiding the potential for unnecessary wider disruption in the event of food safety problems. The Authority shall use all the information it receives in the performance of its mission to identify an emerging risk.4. The Commission shall immediately transmit this information to the members of the network. Feed shall not be placed on the market or fed to any food-producing animal if it is unsafe.2. The Advisory Forum shall be chaired by the Executive Director. /OutputCondition <> /OutputConditionIdentifier (Custom) /RegistryName "traceability" means the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution;16. 1. The Executive Director shall, following adoption by the Management Board, forward the general report and the programmes to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Member States, and shall have them published. 9. "risk" means a function of the probability of an adverse health effect and the severity of that effect, consequential to a hazard;10. 7. "risk analysis" means a process consisting of three interconnected components: risk assessment, risk management and risk communication; 11. Recent food crises have demonstrated the need to set up an improved and broadened rapid alert system covering food and feed. (50) Improved identification of emerging risks may in the long term be a major preventive instrument at the disposal of the Member States and the Community in the exercise of its policies. It should be done in an open and transparent fashion and the Authority should take into account existing Community expertise and structures. Similar issues relating to feed safety should be addressed. 76). The Authority may entrust to these organisations certain tasks, in particular preparatory work for scientific opinions, scientific and technical assistance, collection of data and identification of emerging risks. (42) The Authority should have the means to perform all the tasks required to enable it to carry out its role. Before 1 January 2005 and every six years thereafter, the Authority, in collaboration with the Commission, shall commission an independent external evaluation of its achievements on the basis of the terms of reference issued by the Management Board in agreement with the Commission. "hazard" means a biological, chemical or physical agent in, or condition of, food or feed with the potential to cause an adverse health effect;15. 2. 1. << (56) In addition to its operating principles based on independence and transparency, the Authority should be an organisation open to contacts with consumers and other interested groups. DisplayLogo. (57) The Authority should be financed by the general budget of the European Union. The implementing rules for the application of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be laid down by the Commission, after consulting the Authority, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 58(2). The Management Board, acting on a proposal from the Executive Director, shall draw up a list to be made public of competent organisations designated by the Member States which may assist the Authority, either individually or in networks, with its mission. The Authority shall have legal personality. The Scientific Committee shall be responsible for the general coordination necessary to ensure the consistency of the scientific opinion procedure, in particular with regard to the adoption of working procedures and harmonisation of working methods. Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4). Where a substantive divergence over scientific issues has been identified and the body in question is a Member State body, the Authority and the national body shall be obliged to cooperate with a view to either resolving the divergence or preparing a joint document clarifying the contentious scientific issues and identifying the relevant uncertainties in the data. The terms of that request and the time limit within which the Authority is requested to give its opinion shall be established by mutual agreement between the Commission and the Authority, after consulting the two Member States concerned.SECTION 2FINAL PROVISIONSArticle 61Review clause1. Directive as last amended by Directive 93/39/EEC (OJ L 214, 24.8.1993, p. 22). 0000120585 00000 n 2. The Authority shall forward the results of its work in the field of data collection to the European Parliament, the Commission and the Member States. 1. It came into force on 21 February 2002, although certain key For this reason, it is vital to ensure its independence, high scientific quality, transparency and efficiency. For the same reason the Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health should also replace the Standing Committee on Plant Health in relation to its competence (for Directives 76/895/EEC(13), 86/362/EEC(14), 86/363/EEC(15), 90/642/EEC(16) and 91/414/EEC(17)) on plant protection products and the setting of maximum residue levels. Definition of Regulation 178/2002 Regulation 178/2002 means Regulation (EC) No.