9th EFSA Roundtable with Industry Associations

EFSA annual appointment with registered business and food industry associations

The annual roundtable, which took place on 21 November 2022, was open to registered business and food industry associations and saw wide participation from the sector. Out of 39 registered industry associations, 32 participated, with several representatives joining the meeting for the first time.

Discussions covered several topics, ranging from administrative matters to scientific and engagement issues.

Twenty months after entry into application of the Transparency Regulation, EFSA presented an update on its implementation, on which industry representatives provided their feedback, both sides aiming at improvement and simplification.

The audience was also given an overview of ongoing work on environmental scanning aimed at identifying relevant topics for EFSA to prioritise and invest in, and on the “one substance, one assessment” strategy.

Among engagement activities presented were the creation of a technical group on tools to discuss ongoing technical issues impacting stakeholders; EFSA’s mandate on technical assistance to trace risks along the food and feed chain during multi-country incidents; EFSA calls for registered and non-registered stakeholders; and the mandate renewal for the discussion group on food chemical occurrence data.

Once again, this year’s roundtable was a successfully showcased EFSA’s well-established practice of maintaining an open dialogue with external stakeholders.