Call for expressions of interest for membership of the Scientific Panels of the European Food Safety Authority (Parma, Italy)
Date: 2013-04-13
Institutions: European Food Safety Authority
Subjects: European Food Safety Authority, invitation to tender, technical committee (EU)








C_2013107EN.01001101.xml










13.4.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 107/11





Call for expressions of interest for membership of the Scientific Panels of the European Food Safety Authority (Parma, Italy)
2013/C 107/07

‘Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food’ (ANS)


and


‘Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids’ (CEF)


Ref.: EFSA/E/2013/001

1.   Subject of the call

This call is addressed to scientists wishing to be considered for membership of either the scientific Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS) or the scientific Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in order to identify Europe’s best scientists for this task.
The current members of the ANS and CEF Scientific Panels are serving a three-year term of office which is due to expire in July 2014. The applicants who will be successful in the present call will be appointed as member of one of the above Panels for the three-year term starting in July 2014.
2.   The European Food Safety Authority

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks grounded in the most up-to-date scientific methodologies and data available. Its scientific advice underpins the policies and decisions of risk managers in the European institutions and EU Member States.
EFSA brings together Europe’s best available experts in risk assessment in the field of food and feed safety, who act in an independent capacity for an autonomous, self-governed organisation to provide the European institutions and the Member States with scientific advice of the highest standard.
The Authority is committed to the core standards of scientific excellence, openness, transparency, independence and responsiveness. By working independently, openly and transparently EFSA delivers the best possible scientific advice and therefore contributes to strengthening the European food and feed safety system.
For more information regarding EFSA, please refer to its Founding Regulation:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2002R0178:20090807:EN:PDF
3.   The role of EFSA’s Scientific Panels

The Scientific Panels and Scientific Committee are responsible for providing the scientific opinions of the Authority and other advice as appropriate, each within their own spheres of competence. They produce scientific opinions and advice for risk managers. This helps to provide a sound foundation for the formulation of European policies and legislation and this supports risk managers in taking decisions.
The Scientific Panels are normally composed of twenty-one (21) independent scientific experts. The Scientific Committee is composed of the Chairs of each Scientific Panel and six (6) other scientific experts.
Members of the Scientific Panels and of the Scientific Committee are appointed for a three-year term of office that may be renewed twice. Members are expected to attend and contribute actively to the meetings of the Scientific Committee or Scientific Panels where opinions, statements or guidance documents are adopted.
These scientific opinions, statements and guidance documents are published in the EFSA Journal, a monthly publication which is indexed in bibliographic databases relevant to EFSA’s work.

Applicants are referred to Annex I published on EFSA’s website to consult the detailed description of the remit of the Scientific Panels.
Applicants are advised to give careful consideration to Annex I when preparing their applications. In the context of the evaluation on whether they meet the selection requirements (see Section 5 below), due consideration will be given to the suitability of the applicants’ profiles in relation to the remit of the Scientific Panels.
For more information regarding the selection of members of the Scientific Panels and the Scientific Committee, please refer to the Decision of the Executive Director concerning the selection of members of the Scientific Committee, Scientific Panels and external experts:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/expertselection.pdf
For more information on the establishment and operations of Scientific Panels ant their working groups, please refer to the Decision of the Management Board concerning the establishment and operations of the Scientific Committee, Scientific Panels and of their working groups:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/paneloperation.pdf
4.   The role of the members of EFSA’s Scientific Panels

Members of the Scientific Panels are experienced, independent scientists selected and appointed in accordance with EFSA’s rules and EFSA’s Founding Regulation.
During their term in office, members of the Scientific Panels will be asked to perform the following tasks:






—


contributing to the discussion, the preparation and the adoption of scientific opinions of the Scientific Panel and the activities of their working groups,










—


contributing to scientific advice on matters falling within the remit of the Scientific Panel,










—


provision of advice on conducting and organising the scientific activities of the Scientific Panel.




Members of the Scientific Panels may be chosen as Chairs, vice-chairs and rapporteurs of the Scientific Panels and of their working groups in line with the EFSA Management Board Decision (1) concerning the establishment and operations of the Scientific Committee and Panels.
General conditions:






 


Members of a Scientific Panel will be requested to attend two-day meetings usually held in Parma, Italy. These meetings will take place between six and eight times per year.










 


In addition, members of Scientific Panels are expected to participate, as appropriate, in some meetings of the working groups that are established by the Scientific Panels. These meetings usually take place six to eight times a year.










 


Attendance at the meetings of the Scientific Panels or of the working groups requires some degree of preparatory work, including prior reading and drafting of documents. Meetings and most documents are in English.










 


Applicants are required to express their commitment that, if appointed, they will participate in the activities of the Scientific Panels.










 


EFSA will, in accordance with its financial rules, bear the travel costs, daily and accommodation allowance of the members. A special indemnity will be paid for each full day of meeting attendance (2).




5.   Selection procedure

Candidates are asked in the application form to make a choice between the two Scientific Panels in order of preference.

The requirements

Each application will be screened against the following eligibility requirements:
A.   Eligibility criteria







(i)


a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least four (4) years attested by a diploma in one of the following fields: agriculture, animal health, biochemistry, bioinformatics, biology, biometrics, biotechnology, chemistry, dietary exposure, environment, epidemiology, food science, food technology, genetics, health and food safety, human medicine, life sciences, mathematics, microbiology, natural sciences, nutrition, pharmacy, plant sciences, public health, statistics, toxicology, veterinary medicine or related areas;










(ii)


in addition to the above, at least ten (10) years of professional experience relevant to the remit of the Panel(s) gained after obtaining the requested diploma;










(iii)


thorough knowledge of the English language (3);










(iv)


applicants must complete the declaration of interests included in the application in a detailed, accurate and complete manner (4). Please note that failure to fill in this part of the form in a complete manner will result in the rejection of the application (5);










(v)


citizenship of a Member State of the European Union (EU), or of a country of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or of EU candidate countries. Experts from third countries may also apply but will only be considered for membership of the Scientific Panels, if the required level of expertise cannot be found among nationals of EU, EFTA or EU candidate countries;










(vi)


commitment to attend meetings and to contribute to the work of the Panels.




B.   Selection criteria — Evaluation

Applications meeting the eligibility requirements (see Section 5(A)) will be admitted to a comparative evaluation carried out by EFSA on the basis of the selection criteria indicated below.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to fill in the application form in all sections with the necessary information and evidence, as this will form the basis for their evaluation.
The evaluation of all applications considered eligible will be carried out by means of a scoring range from zero (0) through to five (5) for each of the selection criteria indicated below. In order to reflect the relative importance of the different selection criteria, a weighting coefficient will be attributed. Each application will obtain a score ranging between zero (0) and one hundred (100).
The following selection criteria will be examined:






—


experience in carrying out scientific risk assessment in fields related to food and feed safety in the areas of competence and expertise of the Scientific Panel preferred (maximum 15 points out of 100),










—


experience in providing other scientific advice in fields related to food and feed safety in the areas of competence and expertise of the Scientific Panel preferred (maximum 15 points out of 100),










—


proven scientific excellence in one, or preferably several fields linked to the area covered by the Scientific Panel preferred (maximum 20 points out of 100),










—


experience in peer reviewing scientific work and publications, in fields related to the area covered by the Scientific Panel preferred (maximum 15 points out of 100),










—


the ability to analyse complex information and dossiers, often from a wide range of scientific disciplines and sources and to prepare draft scientific opinions and reports (Maximum 10 points out of 100),










—


professional experience in a multidisciplinary environment, preferably in an international context (maximum 10 points out of 100),










—


experience in project management related to scientific matters (maximum 5 points out of 100),










—


proven communication skills, based on teaching experience, public presentations, active participation in meetings, publications (maximum 10 points out of 100).




Applicants may only be considered for membership if their application obtains a score that is above a cut-off score of 66 points (out of 100). EFSA reserves the right to consult third parties on the professional experience of applicants in the context of their application.
In addition to the abovementioned criteria, the annual declaration of interests will be reviewed in accordance with the EFSA Procedure for identifying and handling potential conflicts of interest (6). The extent of any potential conflict of interest will be taken into account in deciding whether an applicant will be further evaluated.
For more information regarding the selection of members of the Scientific Panels, please refer to the Decision of the Executive Director concerning the selection of members of the Scientific Committee, Scientific Panels and external experts:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/expertselection.pdf
6.   Reserve list and appointment

Applicants who are found to meet the requirements for membership may be appointed as members for a three-year mandate, on the basis of a decision by EFSA Management Board on a proposal by EFSA Executive Director.
Before appointment, EFSA reserves the right to check the application of applicants considered for membership against documents and certificates in order to confirm the accuracy and eligibility of the application.
Applicants who are found to meet the requirements for membership will be included in the reserve list. Applicants should note that inclusion on a reserve list does not guarantee appointment as a member.
Applicants placed on the reserve list resulting from this call may, with their prior consent, be appointed as members of a Scientific Panel even if they did not specifically apply for membership of that Panel.
7.   Expert database

All eligible candidates will be invited to apply to EFSA’s expert database.
For more information regarding EFSA’s expert database:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/AboutEfsa/WhoWeAre/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178712806106.htm
8.   Independence and declarations of commitment and interest

The members of the Scientific Panels are appointed in a personal capacity. Applicants are required to include a declaration that they will undertake to act independently of any outside influence as well as a declaration of interests which may be deemed to be prejudicial to their independence (see eligibility criterion (iv) under Section 5(A)). Applicants are responsible for the content of the declaration submitted which will be assessed by EFSA according to the Decision of the Executive Director implementing EFSA’s Policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making Processes regarding Declarations of Interests.
Applicants may be contacted for further clarification on the declaration of interests they submitted with their application.
See below some examples of what is considered a conflict of interest:






—


The membership of Scientific Panels is not allowed for candidates who, at the moment of submitting their application, are employed by any legal or natural person carrying out any of the activities on which EFSA’s scientific outputs impact directly or indirectly, such as food production, processing and distribution, agriculture or animal husbandry. This includes any form of regular occupation or business, part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid, including self-employment (e.g. consultancy) to the benefit of the persons above.










—


The membership of Scientific Panels is not allowed for candidates who, at the moment of submitting their application, are involved in ad hoc or occasional consultancy to bodies such as a European association of producers of products that the relevant Panel assesses, regarding a range of topics so broad that this activity would regularly be in conflict with items on the agenda of the relevant Scientific Panel.




For more information regarding declarations of interests:
Policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making Processes of the European Food Safety Authority:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencepolicy.pdf
Decision of the Executive Director implementing EFSA’s Policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making Processes regarding Declarations of Interests:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencerules.pdf
EFSA Report to the European Parliament on the implementation of its independence policy 2007-2012:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencepolicyreport0712.pdf
9.   Equal opportunities

EFSA takes great care to apply the principles of equal treatment in its procedures.
10.   Submission of applications

Applicants are requested to submit their application together with declaration of interests electronically through the EFSA’s website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
Applications will be deemed admissible only if a duly completed online application form is submitted. Applications sent by registered mail will be exceptionally accepted, in case of a serious failure in the online IT system.
Applications delivered via electronic/post mail will not be accepted.
Applicants are kindly invited to fill in their application form in English in order to facilitate the selection procedure.
All applicants will be informed by mail about the outcome of the selection process.
The personal information EFSA requests from applicants will be processed in line with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the EU institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (7).
The purpose of the data processing is to manage applications for membership of the EFSA Scientific Committee or Panels.
11.   Closing date for sending applications

Applications must be submitted no later than 17 June 2013 at midnight (local time, GMT + 1).

Please note that, due to the large number of applications we receive, when reaching the deadline for submission of applications, the system may have problems to process the large amounts of data. We therefore advise the applicants to send their application well ahead of the closing date.

Note:
In the event of inconsistency or discrepancy between the English version and any of the other linguistic versions of this publication, the English language version shall prevail.


(1)  For more information, refer to: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/paneloperation.pdf

(2)  For more information, refer to:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/efsa_rep/repository/documents/Experts_compensation_guide.pdf

(3)  ‘Thorough knowledge’ shall be intended as corresponding to level B2 or higher (i.e. levels C1 and C2) as specified in the Council of Europe reference document for the European Language Portfolio (‘Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching and Assessment’). For more information, please refer to:
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_en.pdf

(4)  For more guidance on how to fill in the declaration, please refer to the Guidance document on declarations of interest, available on EFSA’s website at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencepolicy.pdf and http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencerules.pdf

(5)  Please see Section 8 of the present call on independence and declarations of commitment and interest.

(6)  Available on EFSA’s website at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencepolicy.pdf and http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/keydocs/docs/independencerules.pdf

(7)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.


ANNEX I

EFSA/E/2013/001


Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS)

The Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provides scientific advice for risk managers on substances intentionally added to food or naturally present in food. The ANS Panel addresses questions related to safety in the use of:






—


food additives (new applications for authorisation as well as the re-evaluation of all food additives that were permitted before 20 January 2009),










—


nutrient sources (e.g. sources of vitamins and minerals) and other substances added for nutritional purposes to food,










—


other substances intentionally added to food, but excluding flavourings and enzymes.




The majority of the Panel’s work is carried out in the context of the re-evaluation programme of food additives for substances that were permitted for use before 2009 where scientific data have to be gathered by a public call for data. In addition, the Panel carries out evaluation procedures following applications submitted by industry to the European Commission in the area of nutrient sources and food additives. The Panel might also develop scientific guidance documents to clarify the evaluation approach and to assist the industry for preparing new applications.
In the period 2014-17, one of the key objectives of the ANS Panel will be the re-evaluation of food additives according to the deadlines established by the EU legislation. In particular, the Panel is expected to focus on preservatives and emulsifiers, stabilisers and gelling agents, as well as on new applications for authorisation (i.e. new food additives and nutrient sources).
Further information can be found under the ANS key topics section on the EFSA website:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/panels/ans.htm
Against this background, the present call is especially directed at scientists who have expertise in risk assessment of chemical substances and safety assessment of food additives, nutrient sources or substances of botanical origin in food.
More specifically, the Panel has a need for expertise in the following areas:






—


toxicology (mammalian), in the following areas: sub-chronic and chronic toxicity (repeated dose studies), genotoxicity and mutagenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, carcinogenicity, allergenicity and immunotoxicity,










—


toxicity testing in experimental animals and alternative toxicity tests,










—


toxicokinetics and metabolism, meaning absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of substances (toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics),










—


chemistry (organic, inorganic, analytical and synthetic chemistry), especially for the chemical identification and specification of chemical substances,










—


exposure assessment and consumption surveys,










—


food technology (manufacturing processes and use of food additives).





Panel on Food Contact Materials, Flavourings, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEF)

The Panel on Food Contact Materials, Flavourings, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEF) provides scientific advice for risk managers on substances intentionally added to food or packaging material in contact with food. The CEF Panel addresses questions related to the safety in the use of:






—


materials in contact with food (substances used to manufacture food contact materials and processes to recycle plastics intended for food contact),










—


food enzymes,










—


flavouring substances,










—


processing aids.




The majority of the Panel’s work is carried out in the context of new applications for authorisation of food enzymes. In addition, the Panel carries out evaluation procedures following applications submitted by industry to the European Commission or Member States in the areas of food contact materials, flavourings and processing aids. The Panel might also develop scientific guidance documents to clarify the evaluation approach and to assist the industry for preparing new applications.
In the period 2014-17, one of the main tasks will be the evaluation of food enzymes including those from genetically-modified microorganisms, with a view to establish an EU list. Industry in the EU is expected to submit several hundred applications that the Panel will be asked to evaluate. In addition, the Panel will also continue its work in the areas of flavourings, food packaging materials and processes.
Further information can be found under the CEF key topics section on the EFSA website:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/panels/cef.htm
Against this background, the present call is especially directed at scientists who have expertise in the risk assessment of chemical substances, with special emphasis on food enzymes, flavouring substances, chemicals used in the production of plastic material or other food packaging.
More specifically, the Panel has a need for expertise in the following areas:






—


toxicology (mammalian), in the following areas: sub-chronic and chronic toxicity (repeated dose studies), genotoxicity and mutagenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, carcinogenicity, allergenicity and immunotoxicity,










—


toxicity testing in experimental animals and alternative toxicity tests,










—


toxicokinetics and metabolism, meaning absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of substances (toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics),










—


epidemiology (humans),










—


chemistry (organic, analytical and synthetic chemistry), especially for the chemical identification and specification of chemical substances and for migration testing of food contact materials,










—


exposure assessment and consumption surveys,










—


food technology (manufacturing processes and use of processing aids),










—


food microbiology including enzyme biotechnology using genetically-modified microorganisms.