Scientific Committee and Panel renewal 2012

Following a call for independent scientific experts in 2011, EFSA re-established the membership of its Scientific Committee and eight of EFSA’s ten Scientific Panels.

Status update

At its Management Board meeting of 15 March 2012, EFSA outlined the current status of the renewal process for 8 of its scientific Panels and its Scientific Committee. At this time, a provisional date of 8 May was set for publishing the names of the new panel members with the proviso that all invited experts had confirmed their availability and updated their declarations of interests. This process is still ongoing, as is the fine-tuning of the IT software that has been designed to store all of the declarations of interest according to the Authority’s new implementation rules. The timeline is now as follows:

• 13-14 June – Management Board to discuss possible additional replacements of experts
• 27 June – Final list of Panel and Scientific Committee members published
• 3-11 July – Nomination of Panel Chairs at first plenary meeting

Inaugural meetings

The inaugural meetings of the re-established Scientific Committee and the eight Scientific Panels are scheduled to take place as follows:

• 3-4 July 2012 – Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed
• 3-4 July 2012 – Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies
• 4-5 July 2012 – Panel on Biological Hazards
• 4-5 July 2012 – Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms
• 4-5 July 2012 – Panel on Plant Health
• 11-12 July 2012 – Panel on Animal Health and Welfare
• 11-12 July 2012 – Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain
• 11-12 July 2012 – Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues
• 23-24 July 2012 – Scientific Committee

The role of EFSA and its Panel Members

EFSA is the European Union’s scientific risk assessment body on food and feed safety, nutrition, animal health and welfare, and plant health and protection, tackling issues all along the food chain.
Its Scientific Committee and Panels consist of independent scientists from universities, research institutions and national food safety authorities. They deliver high-quality scientific advice for Europe’s decision-makers to act on and protect consumers, animals and plants.
EFSA's scientific work is published on the EFSA Journal which has been accepted for indexation by leading bibliographic databases.

EFSA’s Scientific Committee and Panels

• EFSA’s Scientific Panels cover the areas of: plant health; GMOs; food additives and nutrient sources; food contact materials, enzymes and flavourings; feedstuffs; animal health and welfare; plant protection; contaminants in the food chain; biological hazards; dietetic products, allergies, novel foods and nutrition.
• Experts can sit on EFSA's Scientific Committee and Panels for a 3 year mandate. The mandate for the Scientific Committee and all Panels – (with the exception of the Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) and the Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Flavourings (CEF)) - runs from mid-2012 to mid-2015. The mandate for the next ANS Panel and CEF Panel will run from mid-2014 to mid-2017.
• If not appointed, experts can be placed on a reserve list for vacancies on the Panels.
• Experts are selected through an open and transparent procedure, based on proven scientific excellence and independence.