The Authority shall lay down in its internal rules the practical arrangements for implementing the transparency rules referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.Article 39Confidentiality1. (28) OJ L 317, 6.11.1981, p. 1. In order to ensure the manageability and consistency of the process of scientific advice, the Authority should be able to refuse or amend a request providing justification for this and on the basis of predetermined criteria. Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe. By 31 March each year at the latest, the Management Board shall adopt the draft estimates including the provisional list of posts accompanied by the preliminary work programme and forward them to the Commission, and the States with which the Community has concluded the agreements referred to in Article 49. This is without prejudice to the similar requirements which have been applied so far and which will be applied in the future in feed legislation applicable to all animals, including pets. 0000039480 00000 n Chapter I Scope and definitions . 0000123923 00000 n The Management Board, acting on a proposal from the Executive Director, shall adopt the provisions applicable to access to the documents referred to in paragraph 1, taking full account of the general principles and conditions governing the right of access to the Community institutions' documents. These should include issues having a direct or indirect impact on the safety of the food and feed supply chains, animal health and welfare, and plant health. The Scientific Committee and permanent Scientific Panels shall be responsible for providing the scientific opinions of the Authority, each within their own spheres of competence, and shall have the possibility, where necessary, of organising public hearings. The Commission shall draw up, in close cooperation with the Authority and the Member States, a general plan for crisis management in the field of the safety of food and feed (hereinafter referred to as "the general plan"). 0000096697 00000 n 0000115293 00000 n It shall inform the competent authorities of the action taken to prevent risk arising from the use of that feed and shall not prevent or discourage any person from cooperating, in accordance with national law and legal practice, with the competent authorities, where this may prevent, reduce or eliminate a risk arising from a feed. We are food manufacturers (spirits) and we are facing with EU Regulation 178/2002 requirements. The European Parliament, acting on a recommendation from the Council, shall give a discharge to the Authority's Executive Director in respect of the implementation of the budget.Article 45Fees received by the AuthorityWithin three years following the date of entry into force of this Regulation and after consulting the Authority, the Member States and the interested parties, the Commission shall publish a report on the feasibility and advisability of presenting a legislative proposal under the co-decision procedure and in accordance with the Treaty and for other services provided by the Authority.SECTION 6GENERAL PROVISIONSArticle 46Legal personality and privileges1. Member States shall also lay down the rules on measures and penalties applicable to infringements of food and feed law. The crisis unit shall keep the public informed of the risks involved and the measures taken. Art. The Authority shall carry out its tasks in conditions which enable it to serve as a point of reference by virtue of its independence, the scientific and technical quality of the opinions it issues and the information it disseminates, the transparency of its procedures and methods of operation, and its diligence in performing the tasks assigned to it.It shall act in close cooperation with the competent bodies in the Member States carrying out similar tasks to these of the Authority.8. (31) Similar requirements should apply to feed and feed business operators. It sets out general principles, requirements and procedures that underpin decision making in matters of food and feed safety, covering all stages of food and feed production and distribution. It shall forward them without delay to the Commission and the budgetary authority. The Executive Director shall approve all financial expenditure of the Authority and report on the Authority's activities to the Management Board.Article 27Advisory Forum1. For the same reason the Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health should also replace the Standing Committee on Plant Health in relation to its competence (for Directives 76/895/EEC(13), 86/362/EEC(14), 86/363/EEC(15), 90/642/EEC(16) and 91/414/EEC(17)) on plant protection products and the setting of maximum residue levels. The Management Board shall be composed of 14 members appointed by the Council in consultation with the European Parliament from a list drawn up by the Commission which includes a number of candidates substantially higher than the number of members to be appointed, plus a representative of the Commission. "Food" includes drink, chewing gum and any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into the food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment. The Scientific Committee shall be responsible for the general coordination necessary to ensure the consistency of the scientific opinion procedure, in particular with regard to the adoption of working procedures and harmonisation of working methods. Emergency measures for food and feed of Community origin or imported from a third country. (16) OJ L 350, 14.12.1990, p. 71. Within one year following the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall publish an inventory of Community systems existing in the fields within the mission of the Authority which make provision for Member States to carry out certain tasks in the field of scientific evaluation, in particular the examination of authorisation dossiers. In the case of non-contractual liability, the Authority shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, make good any damage caused by it or its servants in the performance of their duties. It shall inform the competent authorities of the action taken to prevent risk arising from the use of that feed and shall not prevent or discourage any person from cooperating, in accordance with national law and legal practice, with the competent authorities, where this may prevent, reduce or eliminate a risk arising from a feed.4. The Advisory Forum shall be composed of representatives from competent bodies in the Member States which undertake tasks similar to those of the Authority, on the basis of one representative designated by each Member State. (28) OJ L 317, 6.11.1981, p. 1. These procedures shall relate in particular to: (a) the number of times that a member can serve consecutively on a Scientific Committee or Scientific Panel; (b) the number of members in each Scientific Panel; (c) the procedure for reimbursing the expenses of members of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels; (d) the manner in which tasks and requests for scientific opinions are assigned to the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels; (e) the creation and organisation of the working groups of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels, and the possibility of external experts being included in those working groups; (f) the possibility of observers being invited to meetings of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels; (g) the possibility of organising public hearings. (17) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991, p. 1. Where necessary, and particularly in the case of subjects which do not fall within the competence of any of the Scientific Panels, the Scientific Committee shall set up working groups. Measures adopted on the basis of paragraph 1 shall be proportionate and no more restrictive of trade than is required to achieve the high level of health protection chosen in the Community, regard being had to technical and economic feasibility and other factors regarded as legitimate in the matter under consideration. This document shall be made public.Article 31Scientific and technical assistance1. The Authority, Commission and Member States shall cooperate to promote the effective coherence between risk assessment, risk management and risk communication functions.9. The tasks of the Authority shall be the following: (a) to provide the Community institutions and the Member States with the best possible scientific opinions in all cases provided for by Community legislation and on any question within its mission; (b) to promote and coordinate the development of uniform risk assessment methodologies in the fields falling within its mission; (c) to provide scientific and technical support to the Commission in the areas within its mission and, when so requested, in the interpretation and consideration of risk assessment opinions; (d) to commission scientific studies necessary for the accomplishment of its mission; (e) to search for, collect, collate, analyse and summarise scientific and technical data in the fields within its mission; (f) to undertake action to identify and characterise emerging risks, in the fields within its mission; (g) to establish a system of networks of organisations operating in the fields within its mission and be responsible for their operation; (h) to provide scientific and technical assistance, when requested to do so by the Commission, in the crisis management procedures implemented by the Commission with regard to the safety of food and feed; (i) to provide scientific and technical assistance, when requested to do so by the Commission, with a view to improving cooperation between the Community, applicant countries, international organisations and third countries, in the fields within its mission; (j) to ensure that the public and interested parties receive rapid, reliable, objective and comprehensible information in the fields within its mission; (k) to express independently its own conclusions and orientations on matters within its mission; (l) to undertake any other task assigned to it by the Commission within its mission. (10) Experience has shown that it is necessary to adopt measures aimed at guaranteeing that unsafe food is not placed on the market and at ensuring that systems exist to identify and respond to food safety problems in order to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market and to protect human health. 2. Food that complies with specific Community provisions governing food safety shall be deemed to be safe insofar as the aspects covered by the specific Community provisions are concerned.8. ¹dæ1(drÑb‰8¸ ±¥SÌ ààN‘€‚ÉlGº%šÛ'(yÌ ØÄ&¤qЙ]@%Ðik´N‚Ã!V‡‰®\b9‘-Ú¨tŒ…GááŽIjÁÅ 3ç ©Ä-8C!QɵÅñ\Jíü (22) OJ L 297, 13.10.1992, p. It shall meet regularly at the invitation of the Chair or at the request of at least a third of its members, and not less than four times per year. "feed business operator" means the natural or legal persons responsible for ensuring that the requirements of food law are met within the feed business under their control;7. 5. It lays down procedures for matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety. In general, the public shall have access to information on product identification, the nature of the risk and the measure taken.However, the members of the network shall take steps to ensure that members of their staff are required not to disclose information obtained for the purposes of this Section which by its nature is covered by professional secrecy in duly justified cases, except for information which must be made public, if circumstances so require, in order to protect human health.2. Where a substantive divergence over scientific issues has been identified and the body in question is a Member State body, the Authority and the national body shall be obliged to cooperate with a view to either resolving the divergence or preparing a joint document clarifying the contentious scientific issues and identifying the relevant uncertainties in the data. Where there are no specific Community provisions, feed shall be deemed to be safe when it conforms to the specific provisions of national law governing feed safety of the Member State in whose territory the feed is in circulation, such provisions being drawn up and applied without prejudice to the Treaty, in particular Articles 28 and 30 thereof.Article 16PresentationWithout prejudice to more specific provisions of food law, the labelling, advertising and presentation of food or feed, including their shape, appearance or packaging, the packaging materials used, the manner in which they are arranged and the setting in which they are displayed, and the information which is made available about them through whatever medium, shall not mislead consumers.Article 17Responsibilities1.