European Food Safety Authority
The European Food Safety Authority is the agency of the European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communicates on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain. EFSA was established in February 2002 in Parma, Italy. It had a yearly budget of €118.6 million, and a total staff of 542 as of 2021.
The work of EFSA covers all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety, including animal health and welfare, plant protection and plant health and nutrition. EFSA supports the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU member states in taking effective and timely risk management decisions that ensure the protection of the health of European consumers and the safety of the food and feed chain. EFSA also communicates to the public in an open and transparent way on all matters within its remit.
Structure
Based on a regulation of 2002, the EFSA is composed of four bodies:- Management Board
- Executive Director
- Advisory Forum
- Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels
The Executive Director is EFSA's legal representative and is responsible for day-to-day administration, drafting and implementing work programmes, and implementing other decisions adopted by the Management Board. They are appointed by the Management Board.
The Advisory Forum advises the Executive Director, in particular in drafting a proposal for the EFSA's work programmes. It is composed of representatives of national bodies responsible for risk assessment in the Member States, with observers from Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and the European Commission.
The Scientific Committee and its Scientific Panels provide scientific opinions and advice, each within their own sphere of competence, and are composed of independent scientific experts. The number and names of the Scientific Panels are adapted in the light of technical and scientific development by the European Commission at EFSA's request. The independent scientific experts are appointed by the Management Board upon a proposal from the Executive Director for three-year terms.
Public transparency
Public transparency is the practice of informing citizens of all governmental action, and providing public access to government documents. It enables democratic accountability, meaning that citizens can hold the government accountable for doing its job to protect them. Transparency increases citizens' trust in the government and keeps them well-informed.Importance
Transparency is a fundamental value in the European Union, as stated in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The European Commission declares that all European Union citizens/residents have the freedom of information, which entitles them to have access to all governmental documents from the European Commission, European Parliament, and European Council. Since the EFSA is an independent agency but overseen by representatives of the European Commission and Council of the European Union, the EFSA must abide by the transparency policy.According to author Blánaid Ní Chearnaigh, prior to 2018, only some EFSA documents were accessible to the public, such as risk assessments for specific chemicals. These risk assessments were detailed scientific reports that analyzed chemicals' safety levels and potential risk for causing harm, such as cancer. They were difficult to understand and poorly formatted, which frustrated consumers. She articulates that during a "public consultation on transparency in relation to risk assessments conducted by EFSA," it was evident that consumers wanted enhanced public access "to EFSA evaluations and documents." Chearnaigh concludes that the public's demands for direct transparency from the EFSA resulted in the creation of Regulation No. 2019/1381. This legal document outlines the importance of inclusive communication regarding chemical risk assessment to all parties involved: both government bodies and citizens. Residents of the European Union want to feel confident that their government will protect them from all potential health hazards and prioritize consumers' needs, and through transparency, the EFSA can provide that confidence.
Applications
Chemical safety information
As stated by Hanna Schebesta and Kai Purnhagen, the authors of EU Food Law, the EFSA contributes to a public Food Additives list posted by the European Commission that catalogs all food-related chemicals and relevant information for each of them. This additional information includes specific conditions for use, food items the chemical may be found in, and restrictions on the amount that can be used.Food packaging and advertisements
Transparency also applies to how food is presented to consumers, such as through packaging and advertisements. The EFSA works alongside the Food Information to Consumers Regulation, a separate agency, to enforce that all food information given to the public is easy to understand, and more importantly, accurate. Although the FICR handles more of the legislative side of these transparency policies, the EFSA is consulted because the overall public health is involved. Both the EFSA and FICR ensure that all packaging of food available in the European Union includes the following aspects: an ingredient list and the amount of specific ingredients, food name, the date, allergens, total quantity, place of origin, food business operator information, nutrition information, alcoholic content, and directions for how to store and use the item.Focal Point network
The EFSA cooperates with the national food safety authorities of the 27 EU member states, Iceland and Norway, as well as observers from Switzerland and EU candidate countries, through its Focal Points, who also communicate with research institutes and other stakeholders. They "assist in the exchange of scientific information and experts, advise on cooperation activities and scientific projects, promote training in risk assessment and raise EFSA's scientific visibility and outreach in Member States."Members
The following countries' national food safety authorities are members of the EFSA Focal Point network:| Country | Food safety authority | ||
 AustriaInterlanguage link|Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety|de|Agentur für Gesundheit und ErnährungssicherheitObserversThe following countries' national food safety authorities are observers of the EFSA Focal Point network:
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Albania