Brussels, 09/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) - the cornerstone for food safety in the EU, which is responsible for assessing risks and providing scientific opinion to guide the decisions of risk managers (the European Commission and member states) - is renewing a large number of its scientific experts. It therefore made a call, on Wednesday 9 April, for expressions of interest.
EFSA is urging scientists with experience in risk assessment in one or several areas of EFSA competence and who want to contribute to food safety in Europe, to submit their applications to join, for three years, one of the eight panels in July 2015 - including panels for which the mandate is due to expire on this date.
High-calibre scientists in the following areas are invited to submit their applications: plant health, genetically modified organisms, feedstuffs, animal health and welfare, plant protection, contaminants in the food chain, biological hazards, and nutrition. Each of EFSA's scientific panels is composed of up to 21 experts.
EFSA is also renewing the composition of its scientific committee responsible for horizontal issues such as the harmonisation of risk assessment approaches and new methodologies. The mandate of this committee comes to an end in July 2015.
To apply, interested experts are asked to follow the online procedure on the welcome page of EFSA's website. Candidates who are not appointed can be put on a reserve list for vacant posts in the scientific groups.
The call for expressions of interest was also published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Two other panels in EFSA - on food additives and nutrient sources added to food (ANS), and on food contact materials, enzymes and flavourings and processing aids (CEF) - were renewed last year. EFSA experts do not receive a salary but are reimbursed for the cost of their travel, accommodation and subsistence and are paid a flat allowance for each day of a meeting that they attend, states EFSA. (AN)