Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle

Dear Chair, members of the Advisory Forum, distinguished guests, 

Introduction I am very grateful for the opportunity to address this scientific conference on emerging risks and I would like to thank the Hungarian Food Safety Office for their cooperation in co-organising this joint event with us. I would also like to congratulate the Hungarian authorities for their ongoing achievements during the Presidency and to thank them for kindly hosting the 40th meeting of EFSA’s Advisory Forum which took place over the past couple of days. With representatives of the Union’s 27 Member States, Iceland and Norway gathering here in the beautiful city of Budapest, it is an opportune time to emphasise the importance of cooperation, and the role of the Advisory Forum in particular, in the work of EFSA.

The basis for scientific cooperation is rooted in EFSA’s founding legislation which, in its farm-to-fork approach, makes explicit the need for the Authority to work closely with competent bodies in Member States and other actors in the food chain such as consumer associations, NGOs and risk assessors at national and EU level. As EFSA approaches its tenth birthday next year and with its workload having evolved significantly both in quantity and nature, cooperation is vital if we are to meet the future demands on the organisation. The recent structural reorganisation of EFSA reflects its evolving responsibilities and the consolidation of previously distributed activities associated with cooperation under one directorate will, we trust, greatly enhance the effectiveness of our efforts.

Scientific Cooperation While EFSA – the Union’s independent risk assessment and risk communication body for food and feed safety – has a staff of more than 450, it relies heavily on the availability of expertise from the Member States to generate its scientific advice. For example, more than half of our Panel members come from the national food safety agencies. Recognising the importance of scientific cooperation to the future success of the European food safety system, EFSA’s Management Board adopted a formal strategy in 2006 to provide a framework for the Authority’s activities in this area.

It emphasises the importance of making optimal use of European expertise and identifies four areas on which to focus: exchange of scientific information and data; sharing of risk assessment practices; harmonisation of risk assessment methodologies; and risk communication. The subsequent review of the strategy in late 2008 highlighted the progress that has been made: the creation of Focal Points in all Member States to support Forum members and act as ambassadors of EFSA; the growth of contracts and grants from in 1 million Euros in 2007 to 8 million in 2011 and an anticipated €11 million in 2012 if the Management Board and later the European Parliament approve our budget; the creation of Member State networks covering key topics such as animal health & welfare, BSE/TSE, pesticide monitoring, GMOs and nanotechnologies; the establishment of cooperation projects on, for example, risk assessment harmonisation, non-plastic food contact materials, and botanicals; and the establishment of an expert database now populated with almost 3000 experts from across Europe and beyond.

We continue to build our cooperation with Member States with the focus on building our medium-term planning activities to enable the national agencies identify where they can contribute to EFSA’s work programme as early as possible and maximise synergies. You may be aware that, with the European Commission and in consultation with Member States, we have established a Roadmap for the future of our organisation.

Discussions in 2010 between the Advisory Forum, Commission and EFSA’s Management Board have called for further substantial involvement of Member States in our work and we propose to implement this by increasing the contribution of the national agencies and national scientific organisations in preparatory work for our scientific outputs. Member States have agreed that cooperation will focus on a selected number of national institutions – so-called “centres of excellence” – with a long-term commitment to invest in specific areas of expertise. This new approach will be mutually beneficial: it will enhance EFSA’s ability to deliver, increase the sense of ownership in EFSA’s work, more effectively leverage risk assessment resources across the EU, and support the national risk assessment capacities of the Member States which is essential, particularly in this period of austerity. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Hungarian representatives who contribute so much to our work, in particular, Maria (Szeitzné Szabó) of the Advisory Forum, Judit (Sali) of the national Focal Point network and the Hungarian members of our scientific panels and working groups who actively participate in our work. The support provided by Hungary is greatly valued and I would like to remind the meeting that the call for membership of EFSA’s Panels and Scientific Committee is open and I am happy to say that we have prolonged this call. I greatly encourage your scientists to further enhance the Hungarian contribution to our activities. Application is a straight forward process via EFSA’s website.

International Cooperation Driven by a rapidly globalising food chain, climate change, and technological innovation in the food industry, it is increasingly important that EFSA is influential in international risk assessment forums and has access to the data it needs for its risk assessments. Framed by its Strategic Approach to International Activities, EFSA has agreements in place with its national counterparts in, for example, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA and is an active participant in the key international food safety forums such as Codex Alimentarius. We also work closely with the WHO.

Data Collection & Analysis The availability of reliable data is central to EFSA’s work and in particular to its exposure assessments. EFSA’s Founding Regulation and other sectoral legislation assign its data collection mandate in food and feed safety including nutrition, zoonotic organisms, chemical contaminants and residues, animal health and welfare, and plant health. The Authority is also tasked with providing recommendations to the Member States and the Commission on how to improve the technical comparability of the data it receives and analyses.

EFSA’s Founding Regulation stipulates that it should work in close cooperation with all organisations operating in the field of data collection, including those from applicant countries, third countries and international bodies, to exercise its mandate. EFSA has an established data collection programme which issues a variety of reports, some of which are published annually, for example the Community Zoonoses Report (in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) or the Annual Report on Pesticide Residues in Food. Others are produced on an ad hoc basis, on microorganisms (mainly Salmonella and Campylobacter) and chemical contaminants.

In 2010, EFSA again published a series of data collection and monitoring reports on important public health issues such as furans, PCBs, acrylamide, Campylobacter and Salmonella in European chicken, antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria, pesticide residues in food, and zoonoses. With the support of Member States, EFSA has established a Concise European Food Consumption Database, operational since the end of February 2008 and a Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database which was released last year. The latter contains data from the most recent national dietary surveys in Member States at the level of consumption by the individual consumer and has already begun to enhance the accuracy of our exposure assessments.

I would like to express my appreciation of the excellent work being carried out by the HFSO under the coordination of Arpad Ambrus as a pilot project for the EU Menu programme which aims to harmonise data collection on food consumption across Europe. This pilot project (commonly known as PANEU) aims to develop tools and procedures for the collection of individual food consumption data for adults and, as well as Hungary, it involves institutions in Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Germany.

By facilitating more accurate exposure assessment and enabling policy makers to set targets regarding healthy diets, this work will contribute to safer food and healthier diets for European citizens.

Cooperation on Emerging Risks Data monitoring and analysis are also fundamental to the identification of emerging risks. EFSA’s Founding Regulation recognises the importance to public health and the environment of the early identification of risks in the food chain and mandates the Authority to “undertake actions to identify and characterise emerging risks” in the field of food and feed safety. EFSA has a dedicated unit in place to screen and analyse information sources for any threats to the food chain and to ensure preparedness for any crises that do occur. In reality, these tasks are horizontal in nature and are supported by EFSA’s scientific panels and units and externally by all actors in the European food safety system. I would again like to emphasise the importance of cooperation and networking in identifying, addressing and communicating emerging risks. Filtering of signals from a diverse range of data is a key component of this activity, including trade and regulatory data (such as RASFF and INFOSAN), the outputs of expert committees (including those of the Commission), and the scientific literature.

I would like to thank all our partners and collaborators who share data, methodologies, experience and expertise with us via the Emerging Risks Exchange Network and the Stakeholder Consultative Group on Emerging Risks in this horizon scanning activity which is essential in protecting public health. Emerging risks are a standing item on the Advisory Forum meeting agendas and I would like to thank the members for their significant contribution to this activity.

Conclusion In conclusion, EFSA has made significant progress in establishing the systems and networks to effectively monitor, identify and communicate emerging risks to the food chain but there is still a lot to be done. Today’s event will, I trust, make a significant contribution to our understanding of emerging issues in Europe. I would like to thank our co-organisers, the Hungarian Food Safety Office, and all of today’s speakers and delegates for contributing to this event. I look forward to a productive and stimulating discussion.

Thank you for your kind attention. 

 Published: 30 May 2011