The European Food Safety Authority Met in Prague
At the close of the Czech EU Presidency, the Czech Republic hosted the 32nd meeting of the Advisory Committee of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The meeting, attended by Minister of Agriculture Jakub Šebesta and EFSA Executive Director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, took place in Prague on 24 – 25 June 2009.
In his opening speech, Minister of Agriculture Jakub Šebesta summarised the results of the Czech Presidency in the area of food safety and presented the cooperation between the Czech Republic and the EFSA in the context of ensuring risk management throughout the food chain. “Modern European food law is based on a scientific evaluation of risk. The rapid development of new technologies in combination with new ways of using existing and new raw-materials in the food and feed industry bring potential risks, which must be assessed and quantified,” said Minister Šebesta. “The development of new technologies is essentially a scientific task. The practical application of their results also involves the need for scientific assessment, which ascertains whether the maximum level of protection was ensured for the health of people and animals and for the environment.”
Current examples that show, according to the Minister, how increasingly difficult it is to push through a view of a matter on the basis of scientifically based risk assessment include areas such as genetically modified organisms and crops, production from cloned animals and their offspring, and nanotechnologies. In this regard, Minister Šebesta therefore considers the European Food Safety Authority as being crucial and irreplaceable and points to one of the significant priorities of the Presidency in terms of food law, which is closely related to food safety. “The proposed regulation on providing information about foodstuffs to consumers was subject to a thorough discussion at the Council. We succeeded to negotiate general consent with respect to the obligation of stating the allergens in non-packaged foods and to advance certain other issues related to nutritional labelling,” added the Minister. The two-day meeting was then chaired by the EFSA Executive Director, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle.
On the agenda was information about the current activities of the EFSA, as well as a discussion about the plan of the EFSA’s activities for 2010, and a proposal of a working agenda for grants and other activities financed by the EFSA. “Delegates were informed about the functioning of the so-called Focal Points, which serve as coordination points for the development of mutual cooperation between the European Food Safety Authority and the individual authorities in Member States,” summed up the Director of the Food Safety Section at the Ministry of Agriculture, Jitka Götzová. “Certain studies published by the EFSA on current topics, such as the new type of influenza or the nicotine content of mushrooms were also discussed were” The delegates were also invited to a conference on the issue of risk assessment in the sphere of GMOs, to be held this September in Brussels.
The meeting of the Advisory Committee was the third joint event organised in cooperation with the EFSA in the last six months. The EFSA Management Board met in Prague under the auspices of the Czech Presidency, and in April, an international conference on food research issues was held. We trust that the successful cooperation between the Czech Republic and the EFSA will continue after the conclusion of our EU Council Presidency.
The European Food Safety Authority was established in 2002 as an institution whose main goal is to provide independent scientific positions, evaluate risk, and communicate in the area of food and feed safety. The EFSA Advisory Committee comprises representatives of all EU Member States, observers from candidate countries (Turkey, Croatia, FYROM), EU non-member countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland), and the European Commission. The Advisory Committee serves as a means of connection between the EFSA and national food safety authorities, and the task of its members is to provide consultation to the EFSA executive director and participate in decision-making about the activities and manner of cooperation between the EFSA and individual Member States. On behalf of the Czech Republic, the member of the Advisory Committee is Jitka Götzová, Director of the Food Safety Section of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Contact:
- Tereza Dvořáčková,
- Tel.: +420 221 813 063, GSM: +420 737 213 030, [email protected]
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:17
