NoC14/6 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 20.1.92
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveonassistancetotheCommissionandco­
operationbytheMemberStatesinthescientificexaminationofquestionsrelatingtofood(!)
(92/C14/03
On26April1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,under
Article100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,ontheabove­
mentionedproposal.
TheSectionforProtectionoftheEnvironment ,PublicHealthandConsumerAffairs,which
wasresponsibleforpreparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon
7October1991.TheRapporteurwasMrGardner.
Atits290thplenarysession(meetingof30October1991),theEconomicandSocialCommittee
unanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
States.Indeed,theCommitteecalledforsuch'division
oflabourandco-operationamongstMemberStates'as
earlyas1986(2).Severalofthedetailedtasksincluded
intheproposalwerealsocalledforbytheCom­
mittee(3)(4).
TheCommitteethereforeverymuchapprovesthiscost
effectiveproposal,subjecttothecommentsbelow.1.Introduction
1.1.IntheCommunity ,thereisanincreasingnumber
oftasksrequiringobjectivescientificevaluation,
especiallyasaresultofnewCommunitylegislationand
becauseoftheimpendingremovalofinternalborders.
Inaddition,thereareinternationalagreementssuchas
theGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade(GATT).
Thesetasksinclude:
—safety-in-useevaluationofadditives,
—contaminantsurveys,includingtheirimpactonpub­
lichealth,
nutritionalsurveysandCommunity-wide agreed
recommended intakes,
—microbiology ,
—novelfoods,
—supportinovercomingsecondarybarriersagainst
theexportofCommunityfoodandagricultural
products.
1.2.RatherthanhavingalargeincreaseofCom­
munitystaff,theCommissionproposesaback-upfor
theScientificCommitteeforFood(SCF),consistingof
a)asmallCommissionstaff;
b)amechanismforhavingthepreparatoryworkdone
bytheexistinginstitutionsoftheMemberStates.2.2.Basicprinciples
Aspartofthisreform,theCommitteewantstoempha­
sizethefollowingbasicprinciplesandaccordingly
wantstheCommissiontoimplementthem:
a)TheSCFmustcontinuetobecomposedofeminent
scientistsincludingmedicalpeople,whomustbe
totallyindependent .
b)TherangeofcompetenceofSCFmembersmustbe
expandedtocoverallthenewareasofactivity.
c)TheworkoftheSCFmustbeopenandtransparent .
d)TheSCFmustcontinuetotakeintoaccountthe
workofotherrelevantECCommittees .
2.3.Transparencyandinvolvementofthepublic
Boththeseneedimproving.TheCommitteesuggests
thatthereshouldbeprovisionfor:
2.Generalcomments
2.1.Theproposalwouldharnesstheconsiderable
expertiseandspecialisationthatexistsinMember(2)Opinionon'CompletionoftheInternalMarket:Community
LegislationinFoodstuffs',OJNoC328,22.12.1986,point
5.5.
(3)OpiniononNutritionalLabelling,OJNoC159,26.6.1989,
points5.2and6.8.
(4)OpiniononSweeteners,OJNoC120,6.5.1991,point2.4. HOJNoC108,23.4.1991,p.7.

20.1.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC14/7
forProprietaryMedicinalProductsortheCommittee
forVeterinaryMedicinalProductsI1)],theSCFmustbe
fullyinformedoftheirevaluation.—apublicannouncement ofthecommencement ofa
reviewofaparticularsubject.Thiswouldinitiate
informeddebateanddiscussion,
—theopportunityforinterestedpartiestomake
appropriateinput,
—publicationoftheSCF'sconclusionsassoonas
possible.
Suchaprocedureshouldnotconstraintheneedfor
rapidactiononmattersofimmediateconcernwhere
theCommissionmayrequireurgentadviceonamatter
concerningthepublicortradebarriers(seepoint3.3
forurgencyprocedures).
Inaddition,someofthenewresourcesshouldbeused
tofinancethepublicationofinformationontheCom­
mittee'sworkandoftherecommendations madetothe
Commission .Thishastobedoneintermsthatboth
thepublicandthemediacanunderstand .2.6.Possibleproblems
a)Nationalscientificdepartmentsareoftenfullyload­
edwithnationalwork.ThoughMemberStateswillbe
paidforCommissionwork,theCommitteecanenvisage
thattheremaybeproblemsingivingsufficientpriority
toEC-work .
b)Ontheotherhand,someofthesmallerandpoorer
MemberStatesoftenhavelimitedscientificfacilities.
TheCommitteethereforewouldwanttheCommission
toexaminehowfinancialhelpcanbeorganisedto
makeupthesedeficiencies .
3.Detailedcomments
2.4.Operationofthesystem 3.1.Article1
Given2.6a),therewouldbesomemeritinkeepingin
reservethepowertorequireMemberStatestogiveall
documentaryhelptotheCommissionanalogousto
Regulation (EEC)No608/89onveterinaryregulations.Theproposedmethodofputtingintopracticetheco­
operationisgivennowhereintheactualproposal.It
featuresonlyintheintroductorymemorandum which
coverssomeveryessentialpoints,suchastheneedfor
peerreviewfromanothercountry.TheCommittee
thereforeproposesthattheoperatingprocedureshould
bepartoftheactualproposalasanAnnexII(see
point3.5).3.2.Article4
2.5.ExpertisewithintheSCFAccordingtotheintroductorymemorandum ,theCom­
missionseesthisintermsofhelpingcountriesthathave
lessscientificexpertise.However,thisArticleshould
alsobeappliedtogethelpfromcountrieswithadvanced
expertiselikeSwitzerland,theUSA,Canada.
Finally,althoughtheECalreadycollaborateswiththe
WorldHealthOrganization (WHO)andtheJoint
ExpertCommitteeonFoodAdditives (JECFA)(the
WHOequivalentoftheSCF)itwouldbeusefulto
formalisethis.
TheArticlethereforeshouldbemademandatoryand
shouldincludecollaboration withWHO.TheSCFhas18coremembersfromallMemberStates.
Detailedworkonanysubjectnormallystartsinspecial­
isedpanelwhichmaycontainco-optedmemberswho
arespecialistsinthepointunderinvestigation .
Uptothepresent,theSCFhasbeendealingmainly
withtoxicologicalmattersandmostofitsmembers
haveparticularexperienceinthisfield.Nowthat
nutrition,microbiology ,novelfoodsetc.aregoingto
beamoreactivepartofitsremit,themembershipneeds
tobeadjustedappropriately .
TheCommitteethereforerecommendsthatatthenext
tri-annualrenewaloftheSCF,membersshouldbe
recruitedwhohavespecialexpertiseinallthemain
fieldsofactivity.Theremayevenbemeritinhaving
permanentsub-committees oftheSCFtodealwiththe
variousactivitieswhichthisbodywillincreasinglyhave
tocover.3.3.Article5
InmostdirectivestheStandingCommitteeforFood
worksunderaregulatoryprocedure.Itwouldprobably
bepreferabletodosointhiscaseaswell.
Whereagivenproblemhasbeenorisbeingdiscussed
byotherrelevantCommittees [suchastheCommittee (!)OJNoL15,17.1.1987.

NoC14/8 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 20.1.92
AlsotheArticleshouldincludeaprovisionthataction
hastobecarriedoutinlinewithAnnexII.
Inpoint2.3theCommitteenotedtheneedtoinvolve
thepublic,exceptinoverridingcasesofurgency.Such
derogationforreasonsofurgencyshouldbeagreed
underthisArticle.
3.4.Annex1
3.4.1.Thirdindent:Foodintakesurveysofcourse
havetobedoneatMemberStatelevel.However,the
CommissionandtheSCFshouldagreeprotocolswith
theMemberStatessoastoensurethatthenationaland
regionalresultscanbecompared.
3.4.2.Microbiologyandnovelfoodsshouldbemen­
tionedexplicitlyinsteadofbeingcoveredonly
implicitly.
3.4.3.(ThereisanerrorintheGermantextandthis
alsoincludesanindentnotfoundintheoriginal.)
3.5.Annex11(tobeaddedtotheDirective)
Operationoftheco-operation procedure
Theseshallcompriseatleastthefollowing:—thedetailedworkofevaluationwillbecarriedout
bynationalbodies,
—theScientificCommitteeforFoodrapporteurdeal­
ingwithaparticulartopicandtheevaluatingbody
mustbefromdifferentMemberStates,
—theCommission'sSCFsecretariatwillmanagethe
day-to-daydistributionofevaluationfilesandall
questionsofgeneraldocumentation ,
—theoperationofthecollaborativeschemewillbe
overseenbytheStandingCommitteeforFood,pay­
ingparticularattentiontopriorities,thebalanceof
workandresources,
—MemberStateswillprovidetheresourcesforthe
detailedevaluationandtheCommissionwillfinance
theco-operativeelement,
—specialiststaffwillbesecondedtotheSCFsec­
retariatfromnationalinstitutionsorotherappro­
priatebodies,
—apublicannouncement ofcommencement ofa
reviewexceptincasesofurgency,
—opportunityforinterestedpartiestomakeappropri­
ateinput,exceptincasesofurgency,
—publicationoftheconclusionsassoonaspossible.
DoneatBrussels,30October1991.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FrancoisSTAEDELIN