Scientific Committees

Call for expressions of interest for the post of member of a Scientific Committee (1 June 1999)

Subject: Appointment of new members to the Scientific Committees

By Decision 97/579/EC of 23 July 1997 ¹ the Commission set up eight Scientific Committees in the field of consumer health and food safety, on the grounds that high-quality scientific opinions are an essential foundation for Community rules in this area. These scientific opinions must be based on the principles of the excellence and independence of the members of the committees and the transparency of their work.

Article 3 of Decision 97/579/EC provides that the committees shall consist of a maximum of 19 members each. By Decision (97/C 342/06) of 4 November 1997 ² the Commission appointed the members to these eight Scientific Committees.

At the Commission’s request the Scientific Committees provide scientific opinions on matters relating to consumer health and food safety, notably as regards risk assessment pertaining to food and other consumer products.

The Scientific Committees are consulted by the Commission whenever a legal act so requires. They may also be consulted on other questions of particular relevance to consumer health and food safety.

Based on the evolution of existing scientific data, the Scientific Committees may draw the Commission’s attention to any specific or emerging problem falling within their remit relating to consumer health and food safety.

The Scientific Committees meet approximately ten times a year in plenary session, not including meetings of working groups that are created as a function of the workload. Hence members have to make a substantial contribution in terms of time and workload.

The members of the Scientific Committees are remunerated for their work. Currently, they receive 300 € for each full-day plenary meeting, likewise 300 € for participation in a working group, and 300 € for preparing a draft scientific opinion subsequently adopted by the committee. Besides, the members receive travel and subsistence allowances in accordance with the reimbursement rules laid down by the Commission.

Several members have resigned from their committees since these committees were established in November 1999. Besides, practical experience has shown that certain committees are understaffed.

For these two reasons it is necessary to appoint new members to certain committees for the remainder of the existing committees’ term of office (until November 2000). The Scientific Committees in question, their field of competence and the expertise required are indicated in Annex 2.

This call for expressions of interest invites experts from Europe and elsewhere, currently working or possessing up-to-date experience in one or more scientific disciplines in the field of consumer health, to express their interest in becoming a member of one of these committees. The selection criteria and procedure are described in Annex 1 to this call for expressions of interest.

Interested individuals are invited to communicate the following information to the address at the end of this document:

• the Scientific Committee of interest to them;
• their personal details, including an address where they can be contacted;
• a detailed curriculum vitae, specifying notably the required expertise in accordance with the selection criteria (cf. Annex 1) for the Scientific Committee in question (cf. Annex 2);
• a declaration of all interests which might be considered as prejudicial to their independence;
• a list of appropriate publications, awards, etc.;
• any other relevant documents.

Persons who wish to express their interest in several Scientific Committees are requested to communicate the documents mentioned above for each of these committees, it being understood that they cannot be appointed to more than one Scientific Committee.

Expressions of interest should be received by the Commission (in triplicate) by 15. 07. 1999 at the latest or be lodged in person at the address indicated below by that time. The Commission reserves the right to reject expressions of interest received after this date. The interested persons will receive an acknowledgement of receipt. All expressions of interested will be treated confidentially.

If the number of experts selected on the basis of the evaluation procedure is greater than the number of vacancies, these experts will entered in a list of "consultants", if they so wish. The Commission will resort to this list if a Scientific Committee needs additional expertise in the context of a working group or to replace a resigning member.

The Commission will inform the scientific experts of the outcome of the selection procedure as soon as possible. The names of the members of the Scientific Committees will be published.

All correspondence should be sent to the following address:

European Commission

Director-General for Consumer Policy and Consumer Health Protection
DG XXIV/B1
rue de la Loi, 200
B-1049 Brussels

Envelopes must be marked:

"COMITES SCIENTIFIQUES / APPEL À MANIFESTATION D’INTERET / CONFIDENTIEL"

Additional information can be obtained from the same address

Tel. +35-2-295 51 08, 295 62 72 or 295 5 74 64

Fax. +32-2-295 95 79

Annex 1

Selection criteria and selection procedure

The selection criteria and procedure described below are designed to identify experts in the field of consumer health interested in working on one of the Scientific Committees and best qualified to do so, and to ensure the transparency and impartiality of the selection process.

Selection criteria

Preference will be given to candidates who possess:

• professional experience in the field of consumer health and, more specifically, in the areas covered by the field of competence of one of the committees;
• experience in risk assessment;
• experience in delivering scientific opinions at national or international level;
• professional experience in a multidisciplinary and international environment;
• attested scientific excellence;
• experience in scientific management.

Selection procedure

The candidates will be selected on the basis of the above-mentioned criteria as follows:

• A selection jury will be composed of the Commission representatives responsible for consumer health and scientific research and will be chaired by a member of the Scientific Steering Committee who is not the chairman of a Scientific Committee.
• The jury will evaluate the expressions of interest on the basis of the established selection criteria.
• Taking into account the evaluation made by each of its members, the jury will collectively identify the most suitable scientific experts.

The Commission will appoint the members to the Scientific Committees from among the most suitable scientific experts selected in this manner. The Commission will also take into account the need to ensure balance within the Committee, notably as regards the scientific disciplines covering the entire field of competence of the Committee.

Annex 2

Scientific Committees

Field of competence

Experts required

Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition

Field of competence:

Scientific and technical questions concerning animal nutrition, its effect on animal health, on the quality and health of products of animal origin, and concerning the technologies applied to animal nutrition.

2 experts required:

Scientists specialised in toxicology with a good knowledge of the following fields:

- mutagenicity (genotoxicity),

- carcinogenicity,

- reproductive toxicity

with a particular experience in at least one of these fields.

Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare

Animal health section

Field of competence:

Scientific and technical questions concerning all aspects of animal health, hygiene, animal diseases and therapies, including zoonoses of non-food origin and zootechnics.

1 expert required:

Scientists specialised in epidemiology, in risk assessment and statistics in the field of animal health.

Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health

Field of Competence

Scientific and technical questions concerning consumer health and food safety, and relating to zoonotic, toxicological, veterinary and notably hygiene measures applicable to the production, processing, and procurement of food of animal origin.

3 experts required:

• physician with particular experience in the field of epidemiology of food-related zoonoses caused by micro-organisms,
• physician with particular experience in the field of toxicology,
• physician with particular experience in the field of microbiology and technologies relating to food of animal origin, notably in the field of hygiene.

Scientific Committee on Plants

Field of Competence

Scientific and technical questions relating to plants intended for human or animal consumption or the production or processing of non-food products as regards characteristics liable to affect human or animal health or the environment, including the use of pesticides.

5 experts required:

Scientists experienced in the performance of ecotoxicological and toxicological risk assessment in mammals in one or more of the following fields:

• chemical substances and/or pesticides
• micro-organisms and/or genetically modified micro-organisms
• genetically modified organisms

Scientific Committee on Medicinal Products and Medical Devices

Field of Competence

Scientific and technical questions relating to Community legislation concerning medicaments for human and veterinary use, without prejudice to the specific competences given to the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products and the Committee on Veterinary Medicinal Products ³ in the context of the evaluation of medicaments. Scientific and technical questions relating to Community legislation concerning medical materials and equipment.

2 experts required:

• veterinarian, expert in immunology, serum, vaccines (including marker vaccines) and/or veterinary pharmacology, gene therapy, and biotechnology applied to veterinary therapeutical products;
• expert on questions relating to medical devices and notably dental matters and implants.

Scientific Committees
FOOD SAFETY | PUBLIC HEALTH | CONSUMER PROTECTION | DIRECTORATE GENERAL "HEALTH & CONSUMER PROTECTION"