Technical meeting with Member States and European Commission on Article 13 health claims list

EFSA will publish by end September 2009 the first series of opinions providing scientific advice for over 500 health claims.

In the light of the experience gained with the evaluation of Article 13.1 health claims, EFSA will provide an update to Member States and the European Commission on the evaluation status for these claims. A draft briefing document has been prepared and distributed to participants for their comments prior to the meeting. This draft document is also shared with the public for information.

The aim of the meeting is to further explain EFSA’s procedures for the evaluation of Article 13.1 health claims and to provide an opportunity for an exchange of views between Member States, the European Commission and EFSA’s NDA panel experts.

Issues to be addressed will include:

• Outcome of claims evaluations completed to date 
• Scientific substantiation of health claims 
• Characterisation of foods/constituents 
• Defining beneficial nutritional/physiological effects 
• Procedural aspects, e.g. accessibility to documents, translation issues 
• Consistency with Art 13.5/Art. 14 health claims evaluations 
• Eligibility of health claims on the Art. 13 list 
• Outstanding EFSA’s evaluation of health claims received