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The European
Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provides the
European Commission with independent scientific
advice on all matters with a direct or indirect
impact on food safety. It is a separate legal
entity, independent from the other EU
institutions.
The establishment of
EFSA was one of the key measures contained in
the Commission’s
White
Paper on Food Safety, which was published
in January 2000. The
Regulation
178/2002/EC providing a legal basis for the
Authority was formally adopted on 28 January
2002.
Two additional Commission Regulations were adopted, 1304/2003 EC, which set up the procedure applied by the EFSA to request for scientific opinions referred to it, and 2230/2004 EC, which laid down rules with regard to the network of organisations operating in the fields within the EFSA’s mission.
The procedures relating to the requests for scientific opinions which EFSA formulate on its own initiative or which originate from the Commission, Parliament or Member States requests must generally ensure that the process is objective, transparent and functional.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2230/2004 singles out the criteria that must be satisfied by the bodies assisting EFSA, by themselves or within a network.
The competent organisations must posses a high level of scientific or technical expertise in one or several fields and their organisational arrangements must include specific procedures and rules ensuring that any tasks entrusted to them by the Authority will be performed with independence and integrity.
EFSA’s work covers
all stages of food production and supply, from
primary production to the safety of animal
feed, right through to the supply of food to
consumers. It collects information and analyses
new scientific developments so it can identify
and assess any potential risks to the food
chain. It can carry out scientific assessment
on any matter that may have a direct or
indirect effect on the safety of the food
supply, including matters relating to animal
health, animal welfare and plant health.
EFSA also gives
scientific advice on non-food and feed GMOs as
well as on nutrition in relation to EU
legislation. It can communicate directly with
the public on any issue within its area of
responsibility.
This site contains archive material
related to five committees which were
transferred to EFSA in May 2003:
All were established
by
Commission
Decision 97/579/EC. At the same time the
Scientific Steering Committee was dissolved and
its responsibilities in relation to scientific
advice on BSE/TSE were also transferred to
EFSA. More information on these committees is
available
here.
On 15 February 2010, the New Commission approved a list of 14 names with a view to the appointment by the Council of 7 members of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), to replace those whose term of office ends on 30 June 2010.
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